


Mt. Fuji

by xSama14



Category: Naruto
Genre: AUSakura, Alt Sakura, Alt!Sakura, AltSakura, Alternate Sakura, Alternative Sakura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 50,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22410670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSama14/pseuds/xSama14
Summary: Sakura Haruno hasn't been favored amongst the fanbase, that's true; She's been done dirty, screwed over. That said...Sakura finds herself given a blessing of the sorts --she is finally able to begin her journey of becoming a ninja just as admirable as her partners, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Finally, she can play the hero, too! Finally, she will be left behind no longer!
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> R&R!

**This is the only chapter I will put a disclaimer for. I like to believe that, this being , everyone is well aware that all of these stories are non-canon (being fanfiction works) and the canon characters and their stories are all owned by the creator.**

**Essentially, this is not necessarily a rewrite of Naruto, but rather, a rewrite of Sakura specifically. Kishimoto says that Sakura was based on what he figured a real girl would be like. I find that baffling, and frankly, I have a hard time believing that this is the best Sakura could be. I saw a potential in Sakura's character that I'm sure other people saw as well, and I feel like there were plenty of opportunities for Sakura's character to make the changes she should have and grow. Therefore, I hope that I can successfully paint Sakura out as I imagine, and hopefully, it'll be great.**

**\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Everyone will review the transformation jutsu!" Iruka screamed, only to be greeted by the moans of all the students thrusting their skulls into the desk, no doubt.

A couple students took their turns transforming into something, and eventually, a pink haired little girl came to the center of the class. She stretched a bit, her joints cackling beneath her skin. "Alright, Sakura, here! Let's give it a go!" Bringing her hands together to do a few short signs, Sakura shouted, "Transformation Jutsu!"

Iruka found himself staring into his own eyes, and flabbergasted, he marked a check on his paper and dismissed her with a, "Good job." Sakura squealed, and glanced over to Sasuke. He was a charm, the living epitome of the sexy, dark and broody type.  _ I wonder if Sasuke saw that? _

Sasuke quietly took Sakura' s place at the center of the class. Effortlessly, he did the same as Sakura, and turned into another replica of Iruka, much to the teacher's discomfort. With a contorted face, reluctantly, he marked the check box. "O…OK…" He stammered.

The rest of the day breezed by in this pattern, and naturally, Sakura passed!

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Sakura squealed as she bounced on her heels. Amazing! She passed! Gurgling, she mumbled happily to herself, "Sakura Haruno is now on her way to the Road to Ninja!" Luckily, the learning of the jutsus that she needed to know to pass weren't hard at all! And even better -Sasuke passed, too!

She glanced over to other familiar faces that had passed right along with her. That plastic-blonde-b'tch Ino passed, as well as that super smart guy, Shikamaru -even though he's such a lazy, simple guy-And even that chubby kid that eats all the time. That timid girl with the blank eyes had seemingly passed also, followed by that guy and his puppy and the weird kid with a bug fetish. Perfect! No soul left behind!

But then, Sakura's eyes found themselves landing on the village delinquent…

Uzumaki, Naruto.

Every soul passed, but his.

It was today!

Really!

Sakura shot up from within her bed, and for a moment, her head began to sway. The moment it subsided, though, she found herself practically throwing herself back and forth across the room as she got herself ready. Today was orientation! Finally, she was gonna get places! She snatched her headband from off of the dresser, and stood in front of the mirror. She paused, and she stared at her reflection for a moment.

Sakura Haruno, of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Smiling, she began to hum to herself. Moving to tie the headband, she tried a few different looks. Around her waist, around her neck, covering her eyes a little, covereding her eyes a lot, covering one eye, covering the other, hm… Something just didn't look right to her.

Sakura tied it around her forehead. She stared at her new look for a while… But then, she pulled it loose. Her forehead was too big. It's already noticeable as it is, so she'd rather it not be anymore obvious. She then decided to tie it in her hair as if it were a plastic headband instead.

Better.

"Sakura! Get going!" Her mother's rumbling voice rushed up the stairs and into Sakura's room, the house vibrating a little. Sakura immediately growled, and looked towards the door.

"Sure, I was meaning to think of that!" She yelled sarcastically.  _ CHYA! Why is she still talking to me like a little kid? I'm a ninja now!  _ Growling once more, she looked back into the mirror with her sharp grassy eyes. She huffed.

She is no longer Sakura Haruno, of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

She is Sakura Haruno, Kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The teams had been chosen. Lucky, lucky, Sakura-chan!

Sasuke, and Sakura! Team 7 from here on out! But, there's just one minor set back. Sakura grudgingly glanced over to Naruto.  _ Ugh… to be stuck with him, it must be fate…  _ but then, she glanced back at Sasuke again.  _ Then again… to be stuck with  _ **_him_ ** _ , it  _ **_must_ ** _ be fate!  _ Cockily, she looked back at Ino with a coy grin. Watching Ino physically restrain herself from having an open meltdown was  _ sooo  _ fulfilling!

"Ino! Shikamaru! Chouji!"

Things just get better and better~!

Turning back around in her seat, Sakura continued grinning to herself.  _ CHYA! The power of love's always so strong! _

She couldn't wait for their very first mission together -her, and  **_Sasuke_ ** _! _


	2. Chapter 2

He kissed Sasuke.

_ He  _ kissed Sasuke.

Bitterly, Sakura glared over at Naruto, acting  _ sooo  _ clueless -cluelessly kicking dirt on the ground around, and cluelessly glaring at the table, cluelessly disregarding the fact that  _ he  _ of  _ all people  _ was  _ Sasuke's  _ first kiss.

Nonetheless, Naruto stood in front of her with his  _ clueless  _ grin, speaking at her. Once these raging thoughts simmered down, Naruto's voice began to seep into her ears. "Hey, Sakura, since we're in the same group, I thought maybe we could eat lunch together and get to know each other!" Before she even realized it, as if on the cue of a button, Sakura snapped, "As if! I can't believe you'd let yourself think something like that!" Naruto's expression was clearly hurt, but she paid it no mind. What she wanted was  _ not  _ to be the "sweetest strawberry" in Naruto's book. She wanted to be the best in Sasuke's book. She wanted to be the best for Sasuke. Not Naruto. Sasuke. Naruto opened his mouth to speak again. "I, well, I just thought that since we were teammates and all now…"

"Get real. Naruto…" Sakura's moldy eyes got darker as she glowered at the blonde little boy. "You're pissing me off."

Sakura turned and left the scene, calling out for Sasuke. Someone much more worthy of her pretty presence.

A few days later, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were waiting in the empty classroom for their teacher. Two hours and a half.  _ Two freakin' hours and a whole  _ **_half_ ** _!  _ How does someone find themselves  _ this  _ late? He must have completely forgot about them -'cause at the very, very most, he should've walked in 45 to an hour later than the time he's going to be now. If he even comes…

But then, Sakura noticed Naruto mumbling to himself and pacing the room. She groaned. "Naruto, just sit down somewhere!" Of course, all Naruto did was give her lip. God, someone,  _ please  _ send this new sensei into this lifeless classroom so that Naruto could finally stop pacing around and progress can be made! Sakura then took notice of Naruto reaching up on a stool with one of the dirtied erasers of the class. She stared in confusion. "Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto simply giggled at her, raising a finger to his mouth. "Shhh! This is what happens to late bastards!" She blinked, but when she saw him closing the sliding door to a crack with the eraser at the top, she got where this was going. Her lips twitched upwards a little, and she almost snorted. She would have, too, if only Sasuke wasn't there to hear such an unholy sound. She cleared her throat a little. "Naruto! You know that's wrong!" She yelled.  _ So, so, wrong… but if Sensei falls for it… then it'll be sooo, sooo,  _ **_perfect!_ ** _ CHYA, I  _ **_love_ ** _ things like this! _

And just in that moment, the door slid back open, and the eraser came down: right down onto the hair of a pale, slender man.

Everyone stared blankly.

But then Naruto began to laugh.

Jabbing a finger into the teacher's face, Naruto began to mock him. "BWAHAH -I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THAT! DID YOU SEE THAT, GUYS? HE FELL FOR IT, HE TOTALLY FELL FOR IT, YOU LOOK SO STUPID, YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN THAT COMING, OH MY GOSH THAT'S SO HILARIOUS, HAH!" Quietly, Sakura laughed, bowing her head as deeply as she could so that her hair would hide her face and bouncing shoulders. Regaining her composure, she looked up at the teacher with a firm face. "I'm so sorry, Sensei, I told him not to do it, but he did anyway! I could never bring myself to do such a thing to you!" On the inside, however, she was still laughing.  _ As if! Perfect shot, Naruto, CHYA! _

In the end, this little light-hearted gimmick made it very clear.

Sensei thought they were idiots.

And he really hated them.

Introductions.

Simple as can be. Hopefully.

Naruto had convinced the teacher to introduce himself first. Although…

"Well, that was totally useless. All we really know is his name…" Sakura grumbled. Not only was Kakashi vague, but he was real simple, and got so quickly to the point that in the end, he seemingly never actually met a point at all. Seriously -he's a thirty-going-on-forty-something year old man, and apparently doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. He might as well have simply said the only plans he's got left in his bland life is lying in a box in the dirt.

Naruto's turn to introduce himself breezed by. Mainly because Sakura wasn't listening, the only thing she really heard was "ramen". But then it was her turn. "I'm Sakura Haruno!" She said perkily. "My likes are…" She noticed Sasuke shift around a bit in his seated position, and suddenly, her cheeks burned as she couldn't seem to stop herself from glancing back at him. "I mean…  _ the one  _ I like is… is…" She giggled. "My hobbies… well…" She continued giggling. "And… the future…!" She squealed so harshly, a crows eyes began to leak blood…

" _ And? _ " Kakashi pressed. It was then that Sakura suddenly snapped back into reality. It's true, Sasuke is great. But she almost completely forgot. Sasuke's real amazing, he truly, truly is. But loving Sasuke isn't the only reason why Sakura became a ninja…

Now red in embarrassment more than anything, Sakura stuttered, saying, "Wait, can I go again, please?" Kakashi stared at her blankly. Finally, he gave a small nod. "But make it quick, Haruno." Nodding, Sakura took her time to inhale and exhale. Sasuke would have to be set to the side for a moment. There was an actual reason in Sakura attending the academy and training to be a ninja and fighting to become a kunoichi. Sasuke was definitely a big part, but he was simply her motivator when all else fails to push her. He wasn't the sole reason as to why she chose this path.

"I'm… well, as I said, I'm Sakura Haruno," She began. "And what I like is…" She almost caught herself saying Sasuke again, but she managed to stop herself and stay on track. "I like… I like to eat shiratama anmitsu a lot, I think it's really great, and it's fun to take care of my hair, too, I guess…" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her for a moment, and though she noticed, she decided to keep going as to make it short as Kakashi said to. "Well, I don't really like spicy foods, they're always too hot for me to eat, and spicy foods don't sit well in my stomach, so I try to avoid them. Um, I don't really like…" For a moment, Sakura reached to touch her forehead. But she stopped midway, and started up speaking again.

"My hobbies… I suppose what I like to do most of the time would be memorization. I feel like that's what makes it rather easy for me to learn jutsu, I pick things up pretty quick, and my sharp memory makes things even simpler. Also, it makes it easy to play trivia, so I find some joy in that, too." She thought about whatever else might've been left to say. "And your dreams for the future?" Sakura looked at Kakashi straight into his eyes. "I… I guess I haven't thought much about it either…"

"I just know, that right now, I really want to be a kunoichi. If not for anything else, then to serve my village as I see fit." Sakura said with finality.

Her two other teammates stared at her, Sasuke, without emotion, and Naruto, with admiration. "That was great, Sakura!" Naruto chirped, his grin stretching ear to ear. Sakura couldn't help smiling at him, and for once, she happily replied, "Thanks, Naruto!" The rest of the day breezed by. Well, until it got down to it…

No breakfast…

This gray haired bastard had the audacity to say  _ no  _ **_breakfast_ ** . And for what? Some more stupid training? Walking home, Sakura groaned loudly all the way from where she and the team split up to the front door to her bedroom. Shutting the door behind her, she continued groaning until she finished gathering her stuff and stepping into the shower. Hopefully, things will go her way tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Two hours and a half late. Mr. Kakashi was  _ two hours and a whole half  _ **_late_ ** _ …  _ **_again!_ **

Honestly, what's with this guy?

It doesn't help that his excuse is super stupid and lame, too.

"Oh, well, you see, students, on my way here, I saw a black cat, and, well, you know…"

Just thinking about it again made Sakura quietly groan once more as she trudged through the trees, her eyes rolling as they circled her sockets. Kakashi was a hopeless man. A really, seriously, truly, hopeless man. "I don't hear any wedding bells in his future…" Sakura mumbled.

So, in the end, what that hopeless man Kakashi meant by "no breakfast" was essentially this: a plan to starve them in the nearby woods close enough to some training area, teasing them with small silver bells, and holding their free lunches hostage. Sakura felt the same way before as she does now, though. What was the point? And it was as Naruto said -what's the point in this so-called "mission"? At the end of the day, this felt like nothing more than an annoyance. Sakura took the stupid little mock-missions and practice exams and performance tests, what other practice should she seriously be getting in? What hasn't she learned from the academy that she can only learn here, and from him -Kakashi-in specific?

"Nothing, it's gotta be nothing…" Sakura glanced around. Trees, shrubs, bushes, tulips, more trees, more tulips, thousands of strands of grass, plenty of dirt… honestly, this felt a lot like a waste of time and talent! What's the purpose? What are they all supposed to be learning? "Nothing, nothing special, at least…" Sakura kicked a small stone in front of her. Earlier, she had been trying to save Sasuke, but in the end, she got tricked by Kakashi, and it was like waking from a daze. She had no idea where she was, so she decided to keep searching for Sasuke.

But then, she heard a rustle, and so she quickly hopped into the closest bush she saw. What's going on? Who's there? She began to look around as she wondered to herself.

…  _ Something touched her! _

" _ Eep! _ " Sakura suddenly shot up from her hiding spot, and began to glance all about. She was trembling. "What? Huh? Why?" She looked all around, but she didn't see anything. "Huh? Who? What's there?  _ Gaah _ , I think I felt something -what's touching me?" Like a slob cranked up on drugs, she began to feverishly pat herself down. But then…

"Sakura…"

Something was calling her. She froze, and slowly began to look around. The trees loomed over her, and nature fell silent. Her spine rattled beneath her skin. What was happening? What's going on?

"Who's there?" She called. She wiped her hands onto her dress -sweat-and pursed her lips. She continued looking around. "Sakura…" but then, as if guided by a hand, her head forcibly whipped itself in almost a complete 180 to show her the culprit, hurting her neck a little in the process.

Kneeling beside a tree, Sasuke was battered. Not just battered, but  _ beaten _ . Almost  **_broken_ ** , even. Kunai knives impaled his body all over, and a bloody mess wasn't even the half of the image that he portrayed right then -he was a  _ bloody  _ **_pulp_ ** . Of course -someone still breathing in this state would need urgent and immediate care so that in case there's a chance they can make it, they'll be on the road straight to recovery. Instead, Sakura did Sasuke one better.

She screamed. She screamed  _ so damn loud,  _ the crow with the white bandages around his ears shivered. The bandages turned red…

So, naturally, Sakura then proceeded to fall to the ground unconscious.

Truth be told, there wasn't anything special that she could've done for Sasuke, anyway. Not in that very moment, not anytime in the past, and certainly not anytime soon in the future. Other than whine, scream, and faint that is.

Too bad for Sakura, though.

She didn't even get to watch this dying Sasuke poof into air, revealing Kakashi to be controlling this  _ obvious  _ mind-trick the whole time. Sakura studied genjutsu in school. You'd think she be able to spot and handle this.

….….

At some point the bell had rung. And Sakura couldn't get a bell. She couldn't even  _ scrape  _ the damn thing!

Regardless, with their stomachs singing in a rumbling harmony and mimicking the sound of a hundred whales giving birth all at once, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto sat together before Kakashi. Or rather, she and Sasuke sat, for Naruto had been tied up to a log such a long time ago -the runt honestly was acting as if he couldn't go a few hours without food the same way she and Sasuke did. Pitiful. And then being caught so quickly into the mock-mission? Absolutely pathetic.

But then the whales in labor decided to bless everyone's ears once more with an even louder chorus. Kakashi then decided to pick at them, of course.

"Aw, stomach's growling, huh?" He mulled. "That sucks. But here's some news for you all: I decided not to send any one back to the academy." Happiness immediately settled into the minds of the three young trainees. "Really? We passed?" Naruto probed. However, before recieving any sort of answer, he began yelling in triumph. And no one can lie, Sakura joined him, too. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! We passed, we passed!" The two hollered. But then, Sakura suddenly stopped. Confusion swept away whatever joy was originally there, and Sakura began to actually think for a second. "Wait, I passed?" She asked. Memories of the courses of action that she took throughout the day began to fill her mind.

When the assignment first began, Sakura hid, which was great and all…

But then, when she watched Naruto get hurt, she never defended him, even though he clearly needed  _ some  _ type of assistance.

And even when the opportunity to help Naruto came up again and he was hanging from a tree, she still didn't bother to help.

When Kakashi snuck up on her, she almost fainted. Or something happened, because she blacked out at this part.

When she came back to her senses, though, the sight of a bleeding Sasuke was enough to make her faint -again, probably. But as she thinks about it, it was a genjutsu… Sakura slapped her hand across her forehead in annoyance.  _ Ugh,  _ it was a stupid, silly,  _ simple eye-trick _ -and she  _ fell  _ for such a basic trick! If she fell for something like that, her chances of being a kunoichi, or at least one that'll last a little longer than disposable chopsticks, is already falling short.

-Then, when she came to once more, seeing Sasuke's head poking out of the ground sent her into  _ another  _ black-out.

And in the end, all she did was walk around and follow Sasuke the whole time. God, she was so  _ useless _ . Sakura's small smile had already been fading, but whatever was left of it crumbled, and her arms hung loose at her sides.

She wasn't just useless, she was weak, too. Weak, and pathetic, and ignorant, and desperate. More importantly, desperate for the wrong thing. She was desperate for Sasuke. Which, isn't too bad, surely. But it's different in a situation like this. In a situation like this, where if it were real, Sakura could have lost her  _ life; _ it wasn't just bad -it was absolutely  _ horrendous _ . She would have been dead. She would have been killed. She wouldn't even had been blessed enough to be dead, but in a box, in the ground, with honor following her name beyond the tomb. Nor Sasuke nor love can restore life, not that she knows of. And she doubts it. If this were the case, it wouldn't have been Naruto's fault, or Kakashi's fault, or Sasuke's fault… it would've been hers.  _ She  _ would have been the only reason as to why she died, and maybe even the reason the could-be mission failed. All because her itty bitty insignificant little girl lovey-dovey feelings of infatuation for Sasuke had been more imparitive to her than actually putting up some sort of fight to snatch a bell and pass the test. Pass the test…  _ the  _ **_bells_ ** …!

She hadn't even  _ grazed  _ a bell during these past six hours straight.

Sakura wanted to bow her head in utter shame. There's no way in Hell, Heaven and back that Sakura passed this test with the performance, or lack thereof, that she displayed. " _ I passed _ ? What am I getting points for? All I did was faint and fall over…"

"Well, I decided not to send you to the academy…"

The students listened to Kakashi intensely.

"Instead, I'm  **dropping you all from the program,** **_permanently_ ** ."

Their jaws dropped to the ground, and they caused a fit. Sasuke even ran to attack Kakashi. But Kakashi made it clear.

"Sakura, you obsessed over Sasuke the entire time, and yet even when you saw that Naruto was in need of help, you refused to lend a hand." Sakura quietly sighed, she already knew. She didn't help, and  _ so much more.  _ "Naruto, you do everything alone,  _ everything! _ And Sasuke, you're completely filled with  _ arrogance!  _ You feel that your partners are so far beneath you that they were worthless! This is a three man squad:  _ teamwork  _ is what I was looking for. The ultimate price to pay for minuscule failures such as this would be, for example…"

Kakashi snatched Sasuke's head up from beneath his foot and held a kunai knife to the little Uchiha boy's throat. "Sakura!" Sakura refrained from squealing as she straightened up. "Kill Naruto now, or Sasuke  _ dies! _ " Sakura stopped. She couldn't do that. But… but would her feelings for Sasuke ever grow so intense as to make her go through with such a thing?

She glanced over at Naruto, who had already been looking at her with wide eyes. She bit her tongue a little, and looked away.

In the end, they were all able to eat lunch. Except for Naruto, though. Kakashi had disappeared and sauntered off somewhere, but his words hadn't left with him. Sakura was pathetic. She was useless, and completely naive. She hadn't done anything ninja-like at all. As she and Sasuke ate in silence, their own thoughts continued to fill their heads. Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled. Sakura and Sasuke stopped eating, looked up at Naruto, and then to each other, before looking back down at their bento boxes. Sakura didn't know what Sasuke was thinking, as per usual though, because honestly, who does? Nevertheless, she stared down at her brightly shining rice, blankness overtaking her mind.

Sakura hadn't done one noble thing.

"Hey, just take a few bites real fast…"

Naruto stared down at the food being offered in confusion. But Sakura looked up at him with a strong gaze, determination reeling in and leaving her content. He began to go a little red in the face, and despite trying to sound distressed, he sounded quite pleased as he made the comment, "Thanks, Sakura. But, my hands are tied…" He wiggled around a little, chuckling as he then said, "Literally, I mean." Sakura' s brow quirked at him, and he laughed sheepishly. Why, if he could, he'd certainly be rubbing his neck or scratching his cheek. "You know, I don't really like cheeky people like you," She admitted, "But this is for the both of us now. We're a team, now, so as far as I'm concerned, I eat, you eat -I doosie,  _ you  _ doosie-and what I  _ doosie  _ is eat, so you will, too. Got that, Naruto?" Naruto and Sasuke stared at this weird Sakura in bewilderment. Who is this new pink-haired little lady, and why wasn't she around when they needed her most?

But as soon as Naruto took a single bite, darkness filled the sky. Kakashi seemingly appeared from nowhere, and he screamed, " _ You all  _ **_defied me!_ ** "

He was bluffing, though. Nothing happened. He congratulated them, actually. They passed! And their first mission together was tomorrow.

But that didn't completely fix Sakura's mood.

….….

As she walked home that day, she stopped by a tea shop. Before her sat a plate of dango and green matcha tea. She rolled the dango back and forth around her plate. She did so,  _ so  _ horrible.  _ God,  _ it was embarrassing. She didn't even put up a fight! Not even a defense mechanism at the very least!

She was a disgrace. A waste of time. A terrible use of space.

Finally, Sakura picked the stick up to take a bite of the dango. She would do better next time. No, no, no, she  _ will  _ do better next time. Because tomorrow is the actual mission. So who's to say that she'll ever get the chance to really show what she is capable of? Even  _ she herself  _ wasn't all too familiar with what she could do, aside from basic ninja tactics that just about  _ everyone  _ could do.

If she doesn't get herself together before she gets out there in that wild ninja world, how will even  _ she  _ understand what Sakura Haruno could do, as Sakura Haruno?


	4. Chapter 4

Today was the day of the mission!

In reality, regardless of however she appeared on the outside, Sakura was actually very excited. But nervous, too. So…  _ nexcited _ ! Yes, that was more like it. Well, more like the day of  _ missions _ , with and "s" at the end, because the first mission they handled was a pointless cat-rescue. It wasn't very exciting… the only remotely "exciting" thing, in fact, was simply watching Naruto get scratched up. Either way, they ended up with a new mission! And it was rather exhilarating already, just based on what the assignment was!

It was a C-ranked mission: to guard an old bridge builder named Tazuna back to the Land of Waves so that he can build a bridge. Or, perhaps  _ the  _ bridge is more like it. The way the old man talks about this bridge, it sounds like it's supposed to somehow be legendary, since he refers to it saying that it's, "A bridge that will change the world."

Anyway, they all had been discussing the Kages of the Great Five Nations. Although, Sakura had to admit, she didn't really think their current Kage was really  _ all that _ . I mean, seriously, he hasn't actually done anything super remarkable -nothing she's ever heard of at least. Apparently, even Naruto had his doubts, and he himself wanted to be Hokage of the Leaf Village!

"Did you all just doubt Lord Hokage just now?" Kakashi glowered at the young genin, specifically Sakura and Naruto. They stiffened, and rapidly shook their heads. Sakura peered up at Kakashi when she felt his huge bear-sized hand fall down on top of her head. Give her hair a small tussle, Sakura and the other genin listened to Kakashi as he then addressed other matters floating through their heads. "Well, anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission, so take it easy." He said. Sakura smiled a little, and nodded, confirming with her own background knowledge, "And we're not gonna run into enemy ninjas, either." The crew continued walking down the path, warm and cozy from the heat of the sun.

They passed a small puddle.

About another forty-five minutes passed. Sasuke and Naruto took the lead, and Sakura stayed behind with Mr. Tazuna. Kakashi found his way to the butt of the herd, reading his novel.

Rising from the puddle was a man in black. Another appeared from the shadow. Chains shot from opposite sides of the road and tangled themselves around Kakashi's form. Sakura and the others whipped themselves around in just enough time to see strange ninja gripping the metal chains. Snatching the chains, Kakashi's body was completely broken apart by the impact as dirt rose from the action. Sakura's eyes shot open wide. Her mind went blank. But when she glanced over to see Mr. Tazuna off the side on his own, her senses kicked in. She might not be strong, but she could at least help this time! One of the ninjas came dashing at Tazuna, his giant claw ready to pierce flesh. At the same time, Sakura took off at Tazuna, but kicked her shorter legs even faster -in the perfect play of time, she stood grounded in front of Tazuna, her kunai knife up and ready. "Stay behind me!" Sakura shouted at Tazuna, prepared to do whatever she could at this man sprinting at her.

But then, Sasuke came to her rescue!

Her heart began to fill with light and glee, and she watched Sasuke do his magic. Or, his job, more like it. From the corner of her eye, while she was coming to protect Tazuna, she noticed Sasuke had essentially saved Naruto as well. He's so  _ brave! _

Hm, but in the end, it wasn't Sasuke who was going to save her, but instead  _ Kakashi! _

Kakashi -appearing from thin air once again-hooked his arm around the predator's neck, and basically handled him the way a lazy-badass would. She glanced back to where Kakashi had been attacked. Nothing but a pile of chopped wood. Substitution Jutsu. Of course, Kakashi uses this jutsu just about all the time. Lord knows he's done it with their group oh-so-often. Sakura watched Kakashi drag the mystery man's body as he walked over to Naruto. He said something to Naruto, but she couldn't really hear what it was. She heard the last bit, though. "I didn't think you'd freeze up like that. Loosen up a little, alright? This is the ninja world…" Sakura turned away, deciding to pretend that she didn't hear anything at all. Kakashi came over to her and Sasuke, and congratulated them, to which she happily replied, "Thanks, sensei!"

Yay! Her moves were essentially  _ nothing _ , especially since  _ two  _ people went to rescue her, but… never mind that, what good does all the little details do?

"You're not hurt are you?" Sakura turned to watch Sasuke as he spoke at Naruto. Sasuke's face twisted into a mocking grin. "Hah,  _ scaredy-cat. _ " Sasuke turned to keep walking, and Sakura did, too. Eventually, Naruto began to follow everyone else in turn. But even when Kakashi then stopped to explain to Naruto about the fact that he was unknowingly poisoned, she felt blank. Her eyes slowly moved to Sasuke,  _ blankly.  _ They snapped back to Naruto, though, as she and everyone else watched him curiously.

"Why am I so  _ different? _ " Naruto growled to himself. He stabbed himself. He  _ stabbed himself.  _ Sakura gasped, her hand snapping up to her mouth. "Naruto! What are you  _ doing? Stop that!"  _ Naruto ignored her, and instead chose that moment to make a vow. It was lengthy, but it was… well, frankly, it was  _ really, really cool.  _ Almost made Sakura want to suddenly stab herself and make a vow. Or, or maybe not actually  _ stab  _ herself, but making some sort of ninja vow to herself and the world sounded rather promising. Still, Naruto was bleeding very bad -and the way he was reacting, somehow, he didn't even realize this! Sakura scoffed, and shook her head, laughing a little. It was silent enough that no one would hear.

He probably likes pain. What a masochist.

…

Elsewhere, a giant man lounged upon a sofa. However, he suddenly raised his gigantic sword, and held it to the neck of another man, a sweating mess, and the owner of the transport company.

" _ I am Zabuza, _ " He said, eyes almost completely covered in bright red and pink veins. " _ Zabuza Momochi: Demon of the Mist. _ "


	5. Chapter 5

The journey continued onwards.

At some point, everyone found themselves quietly riding along in a small boat together. "This fog's so thick… I can't see anything at all…" Sakura mumbled. It was true, though. Not a single thing could be seen farther than five meters ahead. It was surprising to her that the River Person could tell where they were. Speaking of which, the River Person looked over his should at them as he then said, "The Land of Waves is not too far from here. We're almost through." Everyone continued to sit around idly in silence. Naruto began to squint through the shrouded area to see if he might sea anything, but nothing could be seen. Not too long after, though, did something come into sight. It looked like a bridge. Everyone began to stare at the object, and it was clear that it was truly under construction. But the deck was so very desolate…

Naruto grinned. "Wow, it's so  _ huge! _ " He screamed. It was so sudden that Sakura jumped a little, and she glared at Naruto. " _ Shhh!  _ Naruto, you can't do that - _ think  _ for once!" Even as Sakura said that, she, too was shushed by the River Person. He began to whisper as loudly as possible to them, as ironic as that was. "Quiet! We will surely be caught if you all continue to make noise!" He said. Sakura's face scrunched up, her eyebrows drooping to furrow into each other as her nose wrinkled and her eyes grew pointed. She glared at the River Person's back.  _ Right, because no one's gonna hear any voices unless it's yours _ , she thought to herself. Nonetheless, Kakashi began to speak with Tazuna himself.

"Mr. Tazuna," he began carefully, "I need to ask you before we reach our destination…" Tazuna bowed his head some more, as if he already knew where this was going. "Those ninja who came after you: what were they coming for?" Tazuna remained silent, and so Kakashi continued. "I need to know, Mr. Tazuna. I cannot offer our services to you if you won't let me understand just what to expect from this supposed  _ C-ranked  _ mission." Tazuna kept on staring at the ground, and then hummed lowly. The soothing, soft sound of the water bumping into each other and sending itself sloshing around filled the otherwise silent and still air. "Well, I suppose there is no other way around it." He then began to tell the story to Kakashi and the others.

"It's true, this isn't exactly a C-ranked mission any longer. It's a lot more to it than that, I'm afraid."

"Surely, you've heard of him -The wealthiest man alive,  **Gato** ." Kakashi's eyes widened a little at the mention of the name. Gato was a rich, rich man coming from the famous Gato Company. Nonetheless, Tazuna continued talking. "You see, Gato is indeed an iconic businessman, but he's also a drug-trafficking coon, using contraband and rogue ninja to get his way. At some point, Gato became interested in the Land of Waves, and snatched a hold of our country by using violence and his intense wealth. All of our naysayers simply…"

" _...simply disappeared. _ "

"The Land of Waves is an island-nation, you know, looming along the wide open sea. The way Gato sees it, is that the one who controls the sea controls the money, inevitably controlling people all the same. But even Gato has his doubts. What Gato doubts the most, is  _ the bridge _ ."

"If the bridge is finished, it'll break whatever control he has, and we will be connected to the land. I only fit into all this because…"

" _...because  _ **_I_ ** _ am the  _ **_bridge builder_ ** _. _ "

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto stared at Tazuna, intensely listening to what he said. Sakura suddenly huffed, thrusting herself back into the boat as she leaned into it. Everything seemingly fell straight into place. "So, that's how it is, huh? You're in this thug's way, because you're the one building the bridge, right?" She asked. Tazuna nodded. Sasuke then looked towards both his teammates, saying, "Then, those ninja who attacked us before must've been Gato's men." On the other hand, Kakashi still had remaining thoughts floating in his head on this matter. "But, I don't get it," he said. "You knew building this bridge would be dangerous. You already knew Gato was both a  _ powerful  _ and  _ dangerous  _ man. You already knew that sending ninjas to do his bidding wasn't beneath him. So, why didn't you tell us this before we accepted this mission? Why didn't you request for ninjas who'd be much better suited, and more importantly better prepared for a mission such as this?" Tazuna shifted in his seat a little, but answered Kakashi nonetheless.

"The Land of Waves is very small, and it is also very poor, you see…" Staring Kakashi straight into his eyes, the bridge builder then said, "Even the most wealthiest of us have no money. Or, at least, not enough money to make them "well off", per se."

"In other words, us bridge builders didn't refrain from requesting adequate ninja because we felt no need to, but instead, it was because we couldn't afford it. They're too expensive for us."

"If I am to be abandoned at the shore, then I am to be killed. That bridge, my nations greatest hope, will ultimately be for not, for I will certainly meet my end before I can reach my own home." Sakura's brows begin to reach for each other, furrowing as she felt her lips droop into a frown. She couldn't help but feel bad. After all, it  _ was  _ the greatest hope of their country, and nothing is sadder than watching someone stuck in a hole constantly gain and lose hope, scrambling to reach a better future that for some reason is always a step or two too far and simply out of reach. What agony…

But just as these thoughts of pity were beginning to overtake Sakura, Tazuna then began to continue on with the point he was trying to make.

"But, no need to worry about it! After all, I only have an adorable little grandson at home - _ He just turned eight by the way, in case you were curious _ \- and he'll scream oh-so-painfully,  _ granddad! Granddad! Where's my grandpoppy?  _ Oh, and my sweet daughter - _ oh, so sweet _ \- will condemn the Hidden Leaf and any ninja associated with the village and blame them all for my death eternally, and perhaps pray that  _ the entire village gets shunned and banished to a life of misfortune and equal pain until the day she dies _ ." Sakura glanced at Kakashi, who glanced at Naruto, who glanced to Sasuke, who glanced to Kakashi, who glanced back at Sasuke, who glanced at Sakura, who glanced at Kakashi, who glanced at Naruto, who glanced back at Kakashi, who then glanced at Tazuna, who was then looked at by the young genin all at once.

"Oh, but honestly, don't sweat it!" Tazuna chirped. "It's not your fault! Forget about it!" Despite his sad story, some how, Sakura felt deep inside that maybe that story was just a bit  _ too  _ ridiculously sad. I mean, would his daughter really do that?!

Sakura and her teammates all sighed, and Kakashi then said, "Well, I guess we'll continue guarding you." Suddenly, Tazuna's entire face beamed, and he happily said, "Thank you so much!"

Feeling a little bitter, Sakura stopped herself from smacking her teeth, and instead huffed a little as she leaned farther into her seated position, folding her arms tightly over her chest. Tazuna mumbled something, and Sakura stiffened.

**_Did this fool just say, "I win"?_ **

….…

It wasn't long until the ninja and Tazuna landed ashore.

Standing upon the deck that served as the sidewalk for most of the village, Sakura took a good look around. Beautiful skies, blue seas, and cute houses. If it weren't so clearly poor based on the way the wood creaked beneath them with every shuffle and the way the buildings and houses seemed uncomfortably small, Sakura would actually consider vacationing here someday as an adult. What a shame. But who knows? Maybe it'll be much better far off in the future.

"Take me home, and  _ don't get me killed. _ " Tazuna said. Kakashi nodded, and the group started their journey.

As they walked, Sakura continued glancing around. Not so different than any other village, kids played outside, and people talked amongst their friends. But then again, there were so few people present. It was a little disheartening. Sakura looked over at Kakashi, who stared forward with a distant look. He seemed troubled. Mindlessly smoothing down her dress as she trailed along, Sakura allowed her mind to wander. Assuming that this Gato guy is truly out to get them, then if there's another ninja attack, they're bound to be much more dangerous than the last group. It would make the most sense.

At some point, Sakura glanced up at her two other teammates. Side by side, they looked as though they could be close. But the air around them was off. There was seemingly a lot of tension…

Suddenly, Naruto stopped, and threw a kunai knife. Everyone froze in their tracks, and tensed up. Sakura glanced to the left, and then to the right, but she didn't see anything. She glanced into the trees and the bushes, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary at all. She then felt herself get irritated as the thought dawned upon her.

"Naruto,  _ get serious!  _ This is an important mission where we could actually get killed  _ real! _ " Sakura shrieked through gritted teeth. Tazuna began to yell at Naruto, and Kakashi tried to scold him, but Sakura continued with her own rant anyway.

"But, Sakura, someone really  _ is  _ out to get us! I know it!" Naruto said. Sakura huffed, and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh,  _ sure _ , but how would any of us actually be able to tell if that's true if all you're gonna do is throw a kunai knife in every direction? Besides,  _ look at who you almost hit, Naruto! _ " Pointing at the nearby tree, Sakura and all the others turned only to see a poor little white rabbit. It quivered, it's head just an inch or so beneath the blade of the kunai knife. Sakura watched with a stern gaze as Naruto then ran over to the bunny, scoping it up into his arms and squeezing as he apologized profusely. It was kind of funny, though, to be honest… Sakura quietly snickered a little. But then she glanced towards Kakashi.

He looked… distant again. What was he thinking about?

Something felt weird… Something felt  _ off. _

Sakura felt a shiver up her spine. She glanced around, from the trees, to the shrubs, to the tall patches of grass… She wasn't seeing anything, though. She looked back at Kakashi, who seemed to be focused on something. What was he seeing that she wasn't?

" _ Look out!"  _ Kakashi screamed.

Just then, a blade swung through the air, slicing it through like a lost propeller, and everyone threw themselves to the ground. Shocked, Sakura looked up just in time to see the giant blade -a sword-stuck in another tree, and then a man on top of it. This man looked…  _ demonic. _

He was dressed in bandages, half his face being obscured by one, as if he were scared or something. The gigantic blade shined from beneath him, and contrasted with the darkness that hugged that man. Still, despite not being able to easily see it, Sakura knew his eyes were fixated on them. Her eyes drifted back to the blade, and she stared at her own reflection mimicking horror, shaken up and glued to the ground. He was scary. Scary, and dangerous. "Scary" and "dangerous" are the two traits that shouldn't ever have to go together.

Naruto stood, and moved to run at the man, but Kakashi held him back. "Thank goodness…" Sakura mumbled. "But, this is it, it's my only time to shine! Why can't I just beat this guy?" Naruto grumbled. Sakura glared, and opened her mouth to speak for a moment, but Kakashi beat her to it.

"Zabuza Momochi: rouge ninja of the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said. He then looked to Naruto. "Listen, kid, this guy isn't just another ookey-dookey bastard with a weapon. This guy is dangerous.  **This guy will kill you** ." Naruto stared up at Kakashi with wide eyes, as did Sakura and Sasuke. Slowly. Sakura stood as Kakashi went on to keep filling them in. "If we're gonna be dealing with a guy like this…" Kakashi slowly started to lift his head band from over his left eye. Anticipation tingly their skins, the three genin stared intensely.

"Ah, Kakashi, with the Sharingan Eye. That's what they call you, right?" The man,  _ Zabuza,  _ spoke harshly as he finally turned around to face them. Sakura's knees shook beneath her, but she did her best to keep standing.

Sakura likes being a pretty girl. Or at least, as close to it as she can get. She likes being as pretty as possible for Sasuke:  _ for Sasuke.  _ Sakura glanced at Sasuke. If she were to be real right now, and listen to her inner self, then she'd probably be able to realize how ridiculous that was. Sasuke protects her. He protects her,  _ but for none of the reasons that she wants him to.  _ He protects her, and comes to her aid, because their teammates. Not because they're friends, and not because he has this huge school-boy crush on her, but because  _ they're teammates and it's the moral thing to do.  _ It's one of those unspoken obligations. She glanced back to Zabuza and Kakashi. If she keeps relying on others to save her, she'll be in trouble. If she keeps relying on Sasuke to save her, she'll be in trouble.  _ She'll be a burden. _

Sakura began to rummage through her brain to remember all the jutsus and techniques that she remembered. Honestly, she hadn't learned much. She never practiced at home, and all she ever did in the academy was repeat what she was told to do. But then, out of nowhere, Sakura suddenly remembered the comment Zabuza made.  _ The sharingan? _

"What's… what's a sharingan? Is that a special jutsu?" Sakura asked. She got no answer, and instead, was yelled at. "Get into formation!" Kakashi hollered. "Protect the bridge builder, and  _ stay out of the way! _ " Without realizing it, Sakura's mouth was ripped open as the words shot out of her mouth, " _ What?  _ But why would we do that? Didn't we learn teamwork so that we could handle things like this together?" Kakashi, without even glancing back, simply said, "That's true, Sakura. But I understand your strengths and weaknesses, and the same goes for Naruto and Sasuke. So, for now, I need you all to use your teamwork to not fight, but instead fall back and protect Tazuna with all you've got." Sakura pursed her lips, but stayed quiet. That still never explained what the sharingan is supposed to be, though. But when Kakashi finally lifted his entire band from over his eye, everyone stared in bewilderment at the laser red eye, freckled with black specks. It was…  _ ugly,  _ somehow:  _ devilish. _

"The  _ sharingan _ is a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu can see and understand any ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. Attacks that are witnessed by the user of the sharingan can reflect the attack back onto the attacker. It is a rare form of visual jutsu.  _ But there's much more too it than just that."  _ Sasuke explained. But then Zabuza added an extra tidbit as well. "That's right, boy, but you forgot one other trait of the sharingan: the sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique, and copy it to the slightest detail. You," Zabuza pointed at Kakashi. "You're in my bingo book, you know. Us ninja of the Hidden Mist are ordered to destroy you on sight. You,  _ the  _ **_Copy Ninja._ ** "

"Enough talk.  _ That  _ old man is gonna be exterminated." Zabuza leaned down, grabbing the handle of his blade, but then everyone jumped into position. Sakura grounded herself in front of Tazuna as her teammates followed her example, and the three genin watched the battle begin.

Jumping towards the water, blade in hand, Zabuza landed upon the water -but not  _ in  _ the water-  **on the water** .

"Ninja art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Everyone watched as mist appeared from the air, and Zabuza disappeared seemingly into thin air. "What's going on?!" Sakura asked, worry sounding heavy in the tone of her voice. "Stay calm, Sakura. He's most likely going to come after me first. Keep your guard up. He's known as a master of the  _ silent killing technique.  _ People say it's so fast, you don't even realize that you've been taken from this world and into the afterlife. Even the sharingan can't easily analyze it." Shivers ran up the spines of the young genin.

"But of course, what do we have to lose, anyway? If we fail, all we'll lose is our lives, no problem…"

" _ How can you even joke that way? _ " Sakura growled.

Out of the blue, Zabuza's voice began to ring through the air as he spoke. "Eight points…" He said. He then began to list certain spots of the body, all until he got to eight. "Kidneys…  _ the heart…  _ which part should I strike?" Sakura shivered again, and began to grit her teeth.

Silently, the other genin watched Kakashi and the rogue ninja face off. The air shifted, and grew weight: the intent to kill is very different than the thought to kill.

All too fast, Zabuza dashed at Kakashi, and in a swift movement, Kakashi ran his blade into Zabuza's stomach. But then, Zabuza began to leak not blood, but  _ water. _

" _ Behind you, sensei!"  _ Naruto screamed, just in time for Kakashi to whip himself around. But when he did, Zabuza's blade cut through Kakashi's torso, and Kakashi's upper half went flying into the air. But then, it burst into water. " _ Don't move. _ " Everyone watched in amazement. Kakashi stood behind Zabuza, a kunai knife pressed firmly against his throat.

Briefly, Sakura felt woozy. But then, she managed to keep herself together. She wondered for a moment if this fight would turn out okay: if it was even possible.

Could  _ any of them  _ walk away from this fight, well, and  _ alive _ ?


	6. Chapter 6

There they all stood in the heavy mist: Tazuna, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and  **Zabuza** .

Having been forced to disperse, Sakura looked at her gray haired teacher as he continued pointing the knife to Zabuza’s throat. “ _ You’re done. _ ” Kakashi said. For a moment, the small genin felt a bit of weight lift from their shoulders. What a relief. Sakura began to smile. 

**But then Zabuza began to laugh.**

“Done? Is that what you think?” Zabuza retorted. Cockily, he continued, saying, “All you did was use your clones and copying skills --what a cheap trick…!” Zabuza paused for a moment. “ _ But I’m not so easy to fool. _ ” 

Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, and hurled the blade of his sword in his direction. Kakashi ducked, and the sword shot into the ground. Zabuza gripped the handle and threw his foot into Kakashi’s side, and he went blasting through the sky. Yanking his sword out of the ground, Zabuza went sprinting towards Kakashi. He skidded to halt when he suddenly noticed the black spikes on the ground. Zabuza glanced around, searching for Kakashi’s familiar frame. Although, Kakashi was still soaring, but quickly found himself roughly splashing into the water of the river. 

Shocked, Sakura’s mouth fell agape, but she remained silent. On the inside, she thought,  _ how could Kakashi get himself kicked like that?  _ “His physical strength is on par, too…” Sasuke mumbled, but Sakura paid him little attention as she watched Kakashi slowly rise from the water. Zabuza then ran behind Kakashi, and brought his hands together to form quick symbols. “ _ Idiot… _ ” Zabuza said. “ _ Water Prison Jutsu!”  _ Kakashi looked up at Zabuza with widened eyes, and found himself trapped. The jutsu had encased Kakashi with a sphere of water, and Zabuza’s hand was inside of it. Zabuza chuckled. 

“This may be a prison of water, but it’s as strong as steel. You won’t be getting out of this. So much for the great copy ninja, Kakashi.” Zabuza teased Kakashi, a smirk prevalent beneath his mask of bandages. “I’ll deal with you soon enough. First, I’ll  _ handle your little friends. _ ”

Watching Zabuza’s eyes shift over to her and her teammates, Sakura began to feel her knee caps quiver even more.  _ Lord, this guy was scary!  _

But Sakura’s a ninja. She’s a kunoichi.  **Sakura’s a fighter, too.** She can be useful, she can be. She… she  _ has to be.  _ At least,  _ now  _ more than ever. Sakura glanced to Naruto, and then to Sasuke. What were they going to do? Were they going to fight? Sakura then pursed her lips real tightly. What was  _ she  _ gonna do? Fight? Once more, Sakura began thinking of all the jutsus that she knew. It was mostly just ninjutsu. 

Zabuza raised his hand, forming a sign. “ _ Water Clone Jutsu! _ ” Promptly, the water nearby began to rise upon command, awakening from unconsciousness to come together and create a new Zabuza. As this happened, the original Zabuza couldn’t help but poke fun at the genin. “You know, nowadays too many kids grow up in a delusion: they think that just because they wear that headband on their heads their full-fledged ninjas. But, after coming into life-and-death situations back-to-back, it doesn’t phase you anymore. Perhaps, then, I would call you a ninja. The day any of you get strong enough to find your profiles in my bingo book, perhaps, then, I’d call you ninjas. But to call a bunch of guppies like  _ you  _ **ninja** ? You’ve got to be joking.” 

Clone Zabuza disappeared into the mist, and Sakura stiffened. Her breath grew shallow, and her breathing became heavy panting. She twisted her neck to look to the left, then the right. The sound of Naruto’s body being shoved into the ground then caught Sakura’s eyes, and she and Sasuke stared at Naruto’s body laying on the ground, and Zabuza’s foot hanging in the air. He kicked him. Stomping his foot onto the ground, Sakura noticed something glinting. 

**It was the headband.**

“ _ Run! A clone can only go so far --If you run far enough, the clone won’t be able to get you! _ ” Kakashi yelled. Sakura stared at him, wide-eyed with shifting pupils. Run…  _ run?  _ Run  _ where?  _ Run to  _ whom?  _

Sakura thought back to her mom and dad. No one would have guessed it, but they’d always been trying to help her, to train her:  _ to help her learn, and grow.  _ But she never listened. She never, ever did. And now,  **now** , it’s biting her in the ass.  _ Sakura, you’ve been in the academy for a few weeks now, surely you’ve learned how to wield a kunai knife. Let me show you some special tricks,  _ her mom would say, and Sakura would always answer back,  _ no thanks,  _ and find clothes to put together to make a cute outfit.  _ Sakura, I heard you’ve learned how to make a clone. Come practice with me, and I’ll help you learn to maintain the clone,  _ her dad would say, and she’d say,  _ maybe later,  _ and go wash her hair.  _ Sakura, we saw all the great marks you got. You’re excelling in all your courses! You know, we could show you more ways to use your chakra, you got your chakra control from  _ **_us_ ** _ after all,  _ her parents would say, and Sakura would just ignore them, and use products to take care of her face. She never actually practiced unless it was during training with her teacher. Other than that, Sakura wouldn’t lift a  _ finger  _ for training. The word itself made her feel annoyed the moment she heard it. But now, when she thinks of the word, she doesn’t feel a bubbling, reaching flame, but instead, she feels a heavy, sinking pit. Being drowned in regret, it feels like tar is pouring all over her from above, forcing her back into the reality that she molded. Zabuza’s right. About Sakura, at least: she passed up every opportunity to grow as a ninja, so that she could grow as a girl. But… a  _ girl  _ doesn’t know what to do in a situation like this! A  _ girl  _ doesn’t know how to defend herself in a  _ real fight --- _ she doesn’t  _ know  _ how to  **fight** in a  _ real fight!  _ A girl doesn’t know how to do such a thing:  **_but a ninja does._ **

Just as Sakura thought this, Sasuke grabbed a kunai knife, and ran at Zabuza. “ _ We’ve got to do it!”  _ He said. At first, Sakura didn’t know what he meant, but when she saw him hurl a knife, and then another, and then a ninja star, and then another, and then another knife at Zabuza, it became clear what he meant. 

_ Fight. They had to  _ **_fight._ **

Leaping into the air as Zabuza slapped away the small weapons with his sword, Sasuke grabbed another knife from his utility bag. “ _ Now!”  _ He screamed. But Zabuza had his eyes fixed on Sasuke ever since. Mumbling something underneath his breath, his hand snapped itself around Sasuke’s neck like a snake. Naruto and Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke flailed about in Zabuza’s grasp. He was thrown to the side, falling into the ground. Now approaching Naruto, Sakura watched as Naruto began to shuffle around, Naruto turning to crawl away.  _ Quick,  _ Sakura thought,  _ quick, Sakura,  _ **_how are you gonna defend yourself?!_ **

**** Sakura quickly sifted through her mind, thinking of something she could do. She reached in her back and grabbed her most basic tools: her kunai knife, and a ninja star. As she did this, suddenly Naruto ran at Zabuza, hollering like a madman, and Sakura couldn’t help finding herself doing the same as she feared what would inevitably come. Right as Naruto got close enough to Zabuza, his leg shot up into Naruto’s stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending him flying back over to Sakura and Sasuke. “ _ Naruto,  _ what was that?! If Sasuke couldn’t do it, why’d you think  _ you  _ could?” Sakura saw a familiar glint again. It was the headband. Is that what he was really after?

“ _ Listen… _ ” Naruto began, slowly standing from the ground. As he tied the headband over his head, he then began to say, “ _ Put this in your little bingo book. The one who’ll rule the Land of Fire, the Village Hidden in the Leaves,  _ **_never gives in._ ** ” He looked Zabuza straight into the eye. “ _ He’s Naruto.  _ **_Uzumaki, Naruto._ ** ” Naruto then turned to Sasuke. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” He said. “ _ So now you have ideas?”  _ Sasuke grumbled, but nonetheless, he listened closely to what Naruto was about to say to him. Sakura stared in awe at what she was seeing,  _ who  _ she was seeing. “Naruto…” She mumbled mindlessly. In this moment, at this time… Naruto was…  _ different --- _ or, was he? He wasn’t like this… or did she just not notice? Sakura had always thought that she was well aware of everything, but… then again…

“Your mission is to protect the builder,  _ protect him!”  _ Kakashi argued. But at the attention briefly went to Tazuna, the builder himself decided to state where he stood. “It’s my fault we’re here right now…  _ I’m the reason these genin are stuck in this position, and the reason their teacher has been caught…  _ I’ll put my desire to live aside so that you all may save you  _ sensei --- _ **so** **_do_ ** **what you** **_have_ ** **to do!** ” Tazuna decided. After saying that, Zabuza began to laugh, but he didn’t seem so amused. “So, you little  _ kids  _ still wanna play ninja? When I was your age, I’d already  _ crushed skulls  _ in the palms of my hand. I was…”

“ _ Zabuza…  _ **_the Demon._ ** ” Kakashi said. 

“That’s right… for the final exam, in  _ my  _ village, I had to  _ kill my other classmates. _ ” Zabuza said. Sakura gulped. “What… what do you mean?”

“Ten years ago… the Village of the Mist was filled with fear at one of their ninja academies… for there was one student that was in fact a demon. To them, at least. A boy, who wasn’t even a student, approached the class, and  **killed every single one of them.** Without hesitation, and without  _ care… _ ” Kakashi explained. Zabuza huffed. “That’s right,” He said, “And it felt  **good!** ” 

Zabuza thrusted his elbow into Sasuke’s stomach, and he went flying into the sky again. Swinging his arm around, Zabuza then reeled Sasuke back into the ground. His foot shot up and then collapsed onto Sasuke’s stomach, the added weight from the rest of Zabuza’s body pressing into Sasuke relentlessly. Sasuke even sunk into the soil a little. “ _ I’ve got you, Sasuke!” _ Naruto made a sign with his hand, saying, “ _ Shadow Clone Jutsu! _ ”

Multiple clones of Naruto appeared, and Sakura gaped in surprise. It wasn’t just one, or two, or even five. It was  _ at least  _ **_twenty five_ ** _ of them!  _ Since when could he do this? Still ---all the Narutos pushed up against Zabuza with kunai knives in hand, until they piled on top of him. Somehow, Zabuza managed to blast them off of him all at once, and Sakura gasped again. But then, she tightened her lips once more, and maybe even tighter than before. She knew what they were going to do. She heard the plan. For some reason, they didn’t bother to include her… but maybe,  _ maybe she could still help.  _

The two formed a giant shuriken, and hurled it at Zabuza’s clone. It went past him, and aimed at the true Zabuza. He reached with his free hand and snatched the shuriken with ease. It was useless. But then, emerging from the shadow of the first shuriken, it shot at the clone, and the clone jumped so that it skidded beneath him ---

_ And behold, Naruto appeared from the shuriken in a puff of smoke with a kunai knife in hand.  _

__ _ “Take  _ **_this!_ ** _ ”  _ Naruto yelled. 

As impressive of a movie it was, all it managed to do was scratch Zabuza. Pissed, Zabuza sprinted at Naruto with the shuriken, and by the  _ grace of God,  _ Kakashi abruptly appeared in just enough time to block the attack. Well, so much for helping. Sakura was  _ completely  _ cut out of their plan, they made essentially no room for her to interfere… 

Sakura glanced at Tazuna, who stared at the scene intensely. Then again, while Zabuza definitely seemed distracted, Tazuna is still the ultimate goal in this mission. He needs to be protected still. Sakura continued to stand guard in front of Tazuna, and Sasuke joined. She’ll just need to wait for another moment to play an active role. 

Kakashi and Zabuza stood head to toe. Kakashi’s one eye began to glow red, showing the burning sharingan. Perfectly, Kakashi copies Zabuza as he made signs and chanted. “ _ Water Style! Water Dragon Jutsu! _ ” Two identical dragons of water flew into the air, wriggling about as they butted heads, struggling to find dominance despite fighting with absolute equal power. Puzzled, Zabuza began to signs and the chants again, and again, Kakashi copied without fail nor error. 

Unbeknownst to others, some one else had entered the scene…

Kakashi continued copying Zabuza exactly, even down to the very way Zabuza walked. “How annoying… it’s like a game of copycat that’s gone off the deep-end…” Zabuza muttered. But Kakashi wasn’t wanting to linger on small talk, and neither was Zabuza. Although, as if he were some sort of psychic, Kakashi made symbols. “ _ Water Style! Giant Vortex Jutsu! _ ” The water beneath the two spun into a vortex, and Zabuza swiftly got swept away into the unruly wave. Consequently, the genin and Tazuna did, too. The moment Zabuza was backed against a tree, kunai knives were thrown into his body, effectively pinning him to the tree. 

Then, out of the blue, two needles were shot into Zabuza’s neck. Blood squirted out, and he fell onto the now wet grass, seemingly unconscious. The mysterious figure quietly brought themselves out into the open. They giggled. “It would seem that this battle was indefinitely his last.” They wore a mask, but was dressed in simple clothes. Any hint of their face being shown beyond the mask was nonexistent, for they had long dark hair, and a lot of it was used to cover the sides of the mask. Kakashi wasted no time in checking for any heartbeat in Zabuza’s corpse. Nothing. The mysterious figure bowed. “Thank you,” They said. “I’ve been meaning to take him down. I’ve been tracking him for a while, now.” Kakashi hummed. “I see. I can tell by your mask: you’re a tracker ninja, of the Mist…” The person nodded in confirmation. Naruto tensed up again, grumbling, “ _ It’s a tracker! Be ready for anything!”  _ Sakura scoffed. She truly wasn’t the best at the offensive,  _ for now  _ that is, but trivia is what she’s all about! She knows very much about things like this. “Trackers carry special information. I know you wouldn’t know, because you  _ weren’t there for that lesson.  _ When a ninja goes rogue, they carry the secrets of their people. A tracker is sent after them, and their job is to take these rogues down so that inevitably, the secrets that was taken with them go into the grave with them, too.” Sakura explained. The mysterious figure nodded. “That would be correct. You seem to know a lot.  _ Good job. _ ” Sakura nodded, but couldn’t help frowning a little. This person… they sound and look just like them: just like  _ her _ . 

But then, Naruto began to growl. He started yelling, bickering at the stranger, and then he said, “ _ How is it that this  _ **_kid,_ ** _ who’s no different than Sakura, no different than Sasuke,  _ **_no different than ME_ ** _ , could somehow take down someone like Zabuza? That doesn’t make sense!”  _ Calmly, Kakashi laid a hand upon Naruto’s head, and the mysterious figure quickly pulled Zabuza’s body away. Meanwhile, Kakashi thought of something to say. “Well, Naruto, the thing is…” He worded his sentence as carefully and yet effectively as possible. “ _ There are kids in this world that are younger than you, and yet  _ **_stronger than me._ ** ” Naruto stared up at him, and so did Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura shivered a little. A kid,  _ just like them,  _ being as strong --- _ and yet stronger --- _ than  _ Kakashi?  _ Amazing.  _ Scary,  _ but intriguing… 

The builder chuckled dryly. “I’ll let you all rest up a bit at my house once we get there.” The group began to continue their journey, but then, a  _ thud  _ resounded. Glancing back, the genin were startled. 

****  
Kakashi laid face flat on the ground,  _ completely unconscious.  _   



	7. Chakra

Sakura sat alongside her two ninja comrades, quietly listening to Kakashi spill his revelations to them. He was suspicious of the mysterious ninja it seemed. Although, the more Kakashi talked, the more ridiculous the following conclusion was. 

“... Zabuza…  _ was  _ **_not_ ** _ killed! _ ” 

Kakashi then carefully went on to describe the way Zabuza was somehow struck dead, and yet still living. It was… creepy. But Sakura wasn’t settled. She noticed something else that Kakashi said. “Sensei… you said to  _ prepare promptly _ , and yet, you can’t move at all. How are you possibly going to train us like this?” Kakashi grinned. “Oh, I can  _ surely  _ train you all still!” Sakura’s eyebrow twitched. “Ok,  _ no,  _ a little ten minute training session  _ is  _ **_NOT_ ** _ gonna cut it!  _ Be real, are you…?!”  _ Are you trying to kill us  _ **_all_ ** _?!  _ Sakura thought to herself bitterly. “All of you have improved,” Kakashi said. “Especially  _ Naruto. _ ” Naruto grinned happily, and while a part of Sakura wanted to call him out, he definitely did improve, that was just a fact. “Good things are gonna happen,  _ believe it!  _ That punk  _ Gato,  _ or,  _ Zlatko  _ ain’t nothing for a  _ hero  _ like me!”

“ _ As if!  _ You’re just a  _ dumb  _ guy full of  _ dumb  _ ideas!” The attention was focused on a little plain looking boy. “ _ What?!”  _ Naruto jumped up, going to try and scare the boy, but Sakura grabbed his collar immediately. “ _ Calm down,  _ he’s just a kid.”Naruto continued seething, until the boy left the room, and Naruto followed, having yanked himself out of Sakura’s grasp. As he left the room, mindlessly, Sakura said, “You know, that kid’s just like you, Sasuke.” Sakura squeaked as she suddenly realized what she said, and Sasuke looked at her in surprise. But then, he gave a her a harsh glare, and she flinched a little at how extreme it was. “ _ What?  _ You should  _ watch your mouth _ .” Sakura frowned, and turned away, rolling her eyes as she did so, turing a little pink in embarrassment.  _ Damn, he didn’t need to react like that!  _

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Finally, training had begun. Sakura and Kakashi had just finished explaining what exactly chakra was . Kakashi was urging them to learn how to control their chakra so well, that it becomes second nature. “To do so…  _ You must be ready to die!”  _ Sakura gulped. “How… do you mean?” Kakashi nodded. “You see, you three must…”

“... _ Climb a tree!” _

Kakashi turned and began to walk up a tree. Not crawl, not even necessarily  _ climb _ \---but  _ walk  _ up a tree. The three students watched in amazement. “You get the picture.” Kakashi said. “This is all there is to it: precisely apply chakra to the soles of your feet and keep it there, so that you can walk up a tree. They say, if you can master this, you can master any jutsu at all. Theoretically, that is. It gets even harder in battle, which can turn fatal if it causes you to shift your attention away from it. The easiest way to avoid this is through training.”

The goal was simple: mark the tree as you climb  _ without your feet.  _ Standing in line with the rest of her teammates, Sakura lifted her head a bit, and began to focus her chakra. Naruto and Sasuke rushed up the tree, quickly messing themselves up. Sakura wasn’t looking for that, though. Those two were worried about who would get to the top the first and the fastest, but Sakura wasn’t worried about that. She was worried about precision. She wanted to get it  _ right,  _ even if it took a while. Slowly, Sakura began to trek up the stalk of the tree. She took her time keeping a steady pace and even chakra levels. Surprisingly, her easy pace and strong control had her walking up the tree much quicker than she anticipated. She looked around, grinning widely as her hair fell beneath her. It was like… flying, but not really: it was… kind of fun! Giggling, she then mocked her teammates, saying, “You know,  _ this is kind of fun! _ ” Sakura perched herself up on the branch of the tree, and all the guys looked up at her in shock. “What’s this? It seems like the only one who could perfect this was  _ the girl  _ of the squad!”

This continued on for a while now, until Sakura found herself struggling to go on. Leaning against the tree she was climbing, she closed her eyes, breathing heavily. 

“ _ Psst, Sakura… Sakura…! _ ”

Sakura peeked through an eyelid, only to see Naruto. Opening her other eye, she blinked at him curiously. “Um… what is it?” She asked. She was genuinely curious this time. “Hey, you’re really good at this… could you maybe give me some pointers? Please?” Sakura stared blankly. But then, a sensation washed over her, making her face stretch into a smile. How… flattering. She gurgled lightly. “Yeah, sure, here are my tips…”

  
  


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“This bridge won’t be any hope for any one if we’re all  _ dead _ .”

Another one quit. And it was apparently one of Tazuna’s  _ friends,  _ at that. How disheartening. Still, her job was to protect Tazuna for the time being. So, while he worked on the bridge with the few other workers present, Sakura began to think of what she could do. She thought of training…

Fascinating how chakra can work like that. Well, it’s always been interesting to her anyhow, but she just couldn’t help but think back to what it felt like to walk up  _ a tree  _ the same way you’d walk down the street. It was…  _ cool _ . It made her wonder if maybe chakra could be used in the same way one would use it for their feet, but with another part of their body. Like… Sakura glanced down. Like…  _ hands.  _ She looked at her hands closely, staring at her palms, and the lines in them and their wrinkles. Slowly, as though unsure, she brought her hands together. If she was too reckless, she could end up breaking her hand, or worse. She had to be careful. She had to be  _ thoughtful _ . She can’t just shoot chakra through her palms and pray about it: that’s foolish. So, she began to pool the chakra into her palms, taking care to not rush the process. She felt it become heavy in the veins of her wrists, and it began to pile into her palms. She felt the glands upon the insides of her hands open a little wider, and she shivered a bit at the foreign feeling. Her hands tingled, but it was so fast that it was easy to ignore. Her hands started to grow a tint to them… they glowed  _ pink _ . She began to pull her hands apart, the pink glow continued to fill in the fairness of Sakura’s skin around her hands until it looked a bright bubblegum pink. She paused, feeling a little nervous, but kept going anyway. It didn’t hurt, so, surely it wouldn’t be bad for her to keep going like this. She wanted to see where this would get her. If this was something useful that she could utilize, then… 

The pinkness began to grow darker and darker, making Sakura more anxious, but then, it shot from the surface of her hands, engulfing it in light. The light completely shrouded her hands though. She lifted her hand to her face, inspecting it. The light didn’t hurt; it didn’t hurt her eyes, it didn’t hurt her hands, none of that… it just…  _ glowed.  _ Curious, Sakura began to gently wave her arms around. Nothing happened, and the glow around her hands stayed put, as though they were glued in place. She brought her hands close to her face again once more. It was truly  _ solid  _ light. Oh, geez, but then again,  _ how will she get these glowing orbs off?  _ She can’t wear them forever! Standing, she began to panic as she thought of what to do. She started wiggling her hands around, and the more urgency she moved with, the more the orbs began to shift around. In a final moment of fear, she wailed a little, and tossed her hands up to the sky ---

_ And then, the orbs blasted into the air.  _

Sakura stopped. She looked at her hands. They were completely normal again. Wow… She…  _ launched balls of energy!  _ Wow.  _ Wow.  _ That was… spectacular.

As the day went on, despite what happened around her, Sakura continued thinking about what happened with her hands the whole time. She just discovered a new power she could use, a new technique!  _ Goodbye,  _ Sakura, the burden disguised as a girl, and  _ hello, Kunoichi,  _ the energy-wielding Ninja of the Hidden Leaf! 

  
  


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All of the other bridge builders laid on the ground, totally unconscious.

“No…  _ who got them? _ ” Tazuna said in disbelief. Kakashi sneered beneath his mask, and a mist began to the air. Getting into position, he said to Sasuke and Sakura, “ _ Be ready for anything! _ ” The two quickly fell into position. Sakura couldn’t help but notice from the corner of her eyes that Sasuke was trembling a little.  _ Was he nervous? _

__ “It’s  _ Zabuza,  _ isn’t it, Kakashi? He’s back, right?” Sakura asked. But she already knew the answer. “Yeah,  _ guess he couldn’t wait for the sequel. _ ” Just then, the man of the hour began to speak, making his appearance official. “ _ Sorry to keep you all waiting…  _ I see you still carry those  **brats** at your side.” He laughed a little. It was still devoid of genuine amusement, as it always had been. “That one’s still shaking!” Sakura resisted the urge to glance back at Sasuke. But then, a shiver went up her spine, and her ears opened a little wider. What was he gonna say to that? 

“ **I’m just excited.** ” Sasuke said. 

Sakura twitched a little again. She felt a cold sweat starting to hit her hard, but she managed to keep herself from trembling the way Sasuke was. Perhaps, because of the fact that Kakashi was alive and rather well, and less likely to fall for any tricks. She had faith in him. But Sasuke… did he really mean that?

Oh, but that’s right. Everyone’s got a dream. And while she’s not so sure about what she wants with her own future, from what she remembers about their orientation, Sasuke was very sure of what he wanted from life as a ninja. Or rather,  _ who  _ he wanted out of life, and it seemed the only way to do so was through being a ninja. Since her memory’s so well, she remembers  _ exactly  _ what he said.  _ I want to  _ **_kill_ ** _ a certain someone.  _

Zabuza was just for warm up…

Zabuza grinned a little behind his banded face, and gripped his sword a little bit tighter. In the blink of an eye, water clones of Zabuza centered around them. Then, just as quick, Sasuke slashed through them all. Sakura blinked. How did he know they were clones?

“Looks like you’ve got a bit of a rival, Haku.” Zabuza said, looking towards the masked child next to him. One glance, and Sakura immediately recognized them. It was that person from before, who “helped” to defeat Zabuza. Now, there’s a name that she can put to the face…

  
_ Haku.  _


	8. Major Counterattack

“Looks like you’ve got a bit of a rival,  Haku.” Zabuza said. The masked child,  _ Haku _ , nodded. “So it would seem…” He mumbled.

So, this was it: Zabuza and his minion have finally come for the second round. The  _ final round,  _ that is. Hopefully. More importantly, Sakura hoped that it would turn out to be the final round for her opponents alone. Despite being an uprising kunoichi, she never wished death upon anyone. But in this moment, more than ever, she’s simply wanting whatever that could happen,  _ to happen _ . Death is an unavoidable option. Especially in a situation where it may be required more than ever. Still, Sakura stood grounded as she and her teammates watched Zabuza from the opposite side of the partly finished bridge. 

Zabuza and his companion, Haku, took a few steps closer. But nothing happened, and silence settled. Until Kakashi began to speak that is. “So, I guess I was right all along. It was just a little play you two put on. You even wore a cute little mask.” Sasuke huffed, saying, “Phonies.” Tazuna then piped up right after, voicing his frustrations. “ _ A play?  _ So, being a tracker ninja trying to protect your village was bullshit, right?” Kakashi continued, poking fun at Zabuza and Haku. “I hate little kids who try too hard to be cool… why don’t you remove that little mask, huh? I mean, you two seem pretty damn close, so this little  _ act  _ you two like to put on must’ve been going strong for a while now. You two should get a medal for that. Rather convincing, it was. Maybe this time, though, you’ll show us who you two really are, instead of hiding behind a lie. What, are you afraid of people seeing you for who you  _ really  _ are?” Sakura snickered. “ _ Don’t get too full of yourself, Sensei, you wear a mask  _ **_every single day._ ** ” 

“ _ That’s it…  _ **_he’s going down._ ** Wearing that mask like he’s some sort of clown. I hate little kids who try too hard to be cool.” Sasuke said. Sakura gave him a wild look, despite him not looking her way. Is this fool  _ trying  _ to get killed? From the opposite side of them, Zabuza tilted his head a little towards Haku. They were whispering something. What were they plotting? Sakura continued to stand guard, ready for anything --and then something came!

Suddenly, Haku began twirling on his heels, faster and faster, and the mist began to follow him as it grew into a vortex of the sorts. 

It encircled them, and Sasuke ran at Haku with his knife. The blades  _ clinked  _ as he and Haku swung at each other with their knives. Sakura thought for a moment, and then moved to chase after Sasuke. But then, Kakashi stopped her with his outstretched arm. “Hold on, Sakura. Let Sasuke do this. You just keep guarding Tazuna.” He said. Sakura furrowed her brows, but nonetheless jumped in front of Tazuna, keeping up her kunai knife. She watched as Sasuke and Haku clashed kunais once more, and held it still, their hands shaking at the pressure being pressed into their weapons. She couldn’t help but notice Sasuke’s mouth moving. He was talking to Haku. What were they saying to each other?

Haku’s free hand rose and rapidly made signs. Everyone except for Zabuza looked at the kid in surprise as he said, “ _ Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death! _ ” Stomping his foot into the water, it came to life as it filled the cold air, and sharpened itself into pointed needles. Aiming at Sasuke, it shot at him. Despite his situation, Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, and Sakura panicked. “Sasuke, fall back!” She screamed, but Sasuke paid her no attention. Then, all in a flash, Sasuke jumped into the air, and threw a few stars at Haku. 

“ _ Surprisingly enough, you’re actually  _ **_really stupid._ ** ” Sasuke yelled, grinning as he watch Haku’s constant late reactions to his ninja stars. Landing upon the ground, Sasuke’s cocky attitude then began to make its appearance. “So, what else are you  _ wrong  _ about?” He asked. Haku stayed silent. But then, a blue mass began to grow and warp around Haku. It was like… like a cloak, sort of. A second later, and it clicked into Sakura’ s head what it was. It was chakra.

It was energy. 

“It’s too bad it came down to this…” Haku grumbled. Although, he didn’t sound as though he had any true remorse, even though the words he chose gave off an apologetic vibe. “ _ Secret Jutsu… _ ” Holding his hands together, the air around began to grow extremely cold. Sakura’s body shivered, and she felt the goosebumps crawl onto her body. The parts of her body that weren’t covered began to immediately grow pale and pasty, being so cold that she felt pain. Sakura noticed that even bending her knees and fingers a little hurt her. Evidently, it wasn’t just a winter cold. It was an Antarctic cold. The water from the ground came together again, floating into the sky once more. This time, though, they started to freeze as they grew taller, smoothing itself out and appearing more solid. Soon, it was clear what Haku had summoned. “ _... Crystal Ice Mirrors! _ ” Mirrors were at a stand-still amidst the air, and they surrounded Sasuke like a gang. Haku then walked into the nearby mirror, slow and calculative, like a haunting ghost. Then, his image filled up all of the other mirrors, too, and Sakura immediately saw where this was going. He was hiding his true self inside the mirror, and all the other flashes of him were just illusions. The problem was, however, since they all looked  _ exactly like the original Haku _ , it would be difficult for Sasuke to tell the difference, at least not without understanding the way the jutsu worked. It was like two witches and a single unfair spell: what was unfair about it was that  _ only one  _ witch understood the spell, and that one  _ was  _ **_not_ ** _ Sasuke.  _

Needles went flying at Sasuke again, all at full speed. Sasuke’s startled scream began to ring through, and Sakura felt herself get heated. Sasuke was her rock,  _ her motivation.  _ It was  _ him  _ who would keep her going when everything else couldn’t. Besides, Sasuke can definitely be mean at times. In fact, he’s normally pretty mean almost all the time. But… certainly, even  _ he  _ has a nice side? So, maybe, if Sakura continues to be by his side, then maybe he’ll change. He’ll abandon all his horrible ways, and make amends, and become someone new…  _ for her,  _ and start all over. Right, so… so she can’t give up on him! Not now, and not ever!

Sakura glanced from where Sasuke was to Zabuza, and then looked up at Tazuna. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to get involved with this battle. For now, you’re on your own…” Sakura watched as Kakashi quickly ran to bring aid to Sasuke, but then, Zabuza jumped into his path. Sword in hand, he then said snarkily, “ _ You’re fighting  _ **_me,_ ** _ remember? _ ” Sakura glanced back and forth between the two battles, trying to think which one to run into. Should she help Kakashi? Or, should she help Sasuke? After all, hearing his screams… he sounds like he needs help the most. 

Sakura ran towards the mirrors, and she began to channel her chakra into her feet. Feeling heat grow more intense at the soles of her feet, she felt her legs unwillingly kicking faster and faster. The mirrors approached quickly, and so with another sudden burst of chakra, Sakura threw her body over her arm in a flip, using the momentum to jump into the air like a firecracker. As gravity then began to embrace her, attempting to pull her back down, Sakura spun the kunai knife around her fingertip. “ **_Sasuke, incoming!_ ** ” Falling down, the chakra Sakura felt into her feet travelled through her legs and torso to her one arm, making it grow a familiar faint pink as she snatched her arm back, and then whipped the kunai knife at Sasuke. But it wasn’t  _ really  _ Sasuke that she aimed at.  **It was Haku’s image.**

To be honest, Sakura had  _ no idea if that was actually the correct mirror.  _ She just threw it as a quick, reckless attempt to try and help her crush. 

_ Lo and behold,  _ **_she got him._ **

Haku’s body was shoved out of the mirror with the blunt force of the kunai knife, and his copy images mimicked him as he soared out of the mirrors. Haku ---the original--- tumbled about the ground for a bit, rolling a little until he finally landed on his back. Roughly hitting the ground, feet first at that, Sakura’s legs bent at the sudden weight of the rest of her form following in suite. Her legs then gave out on her, quivering before then bulking, ending up with Sakura falling to her knees. Haku recovered almost immediately, though, and he, too, got up onto his knees. 

“ _ You… _ ” He began, his mask leaving him extremely ominous. At least, from Sakura’s point of view. He simply kneeled there, silent, and uncomfortably still. It was like looking at a doll. And that mask of his made it no better, even though it now had a huge ugly scar in it. Sakura stared at Haku, not daring to answer, fearing that her voice would sound as weak as she was feeling.  _ She went down --- _ **_straight down_ ** _ \--- even though  _ **_she_ ** _ was the one who threw the kunai knife at  _ **_him_ ** . Even though  _ it was freezing,  _ Sakura felt sweat building up on her body, and her face twitched, struggling to hide her intimidated signals. Slowly, like a phantom, Haku began to rise. “ _ You… _ ” He said. “ _... Didn’t seem like a threat at all. I suppose this is what happens when you become bold enough to doubt another ninja. You are a kunoichi, after all. _ ” Sakura stiffened, continuing to keep her eyes on Haku. He then picked up the kunai knife that Sakura had thrown, and held it close to his face. He gripped it, as if he was angry,  **as if he was pissed,** and yet at the same time he seemed so very calm. Even his tone of voice and choice of words refused to show any signs of unsettlement. 

“ _ You’re smarter than what I came to believe. I apologize for underestimating you. So… _ ” Haku continued to stand by calmly, holding the kunai knife close to him. He raised his free hand, ready to make hand signs if need be. “ _ Just like your comrade, I’m going to deal with you effectively. _ ” 

Sakura let out a cowardly shriek as Haku jumped at her, swinging the kunai knife. Wildy, he stabbed in each direction --- _ up, down, left, right, left, down, up --- _ **_kick!_ ** Sakura fell backwards, flopping onto her stomach a few feet away from Haku. Just that fast, she felt his fingers dig into her collarbone, shoving her onto her back. Haku hunched over her, sitting upon her chest and anchoring her down. The air from Sakura’s lungs left her, but she barely had time to process that when Haku grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled, her scalp burning at the discomfort, and he slugged the knife back behind him, reeling it towards her jaw. Instinctively, Sakura’s arm shot up to block the fast swing in just enough time to force the kunai knife away from her, and so it slashed her across her face, leaving a mark identical to the one on Haku’s mask. Haku retaliated by then yanking the knife right back across Sakura’s face, but just like the first time she blocked with her other arm, and this time it didn’t slice her at all. Haku raised the the knife above them, and pulled it down. Sakura’s hands grasped Haku’s wrist, and she held a tight hold that quickly began to leave a purplish bruise on his skin. Their arms shook at the equal strength that they were putting in, but anyone could see that Sakura was losing as the knife steadily came closer and closer to her face. Against her desires, a small squeak left Sakura’s painfully dry throat as she stared intensely at the point of the weapon creeping nearer to the space between her eyebrows.  _ He’s gonna break her.  _

__ The point shined, the sun somehow still breaking through the mist with its light to highlight the steel of the blade. Still, the sunlight… It was so pretty…

_ He’s gonna do it. He’s gonna  _ **_hurt me._ **

__ The blade came so close, it was probably about a few inches from her face. Her lips began to tremble, and even though Haku sitting on top of her lungs made it hard to breath, she began to heave in and out, panting quietly. Each breath growing quicker and more shallow, Sakura’s eyes itched and burned, her sight failing her and getting blurry. Almost nothing else was more apparent to her than Haku leaning above her. Almost nothing else was more apparent to her than this  **killer** leaning above her. 

_ He’s gonna hurt me. He’s gonna  _ **_kill me._ **

**** But the sunshine was so, so,  _ so warm.  _ It was sweet. Feeling the warmth of the sun was like the warmth of a hug; the warmth that comes from holding hands with someone, and snuggling into a blanket, curled into the fabric as it trapped in the heat. It was like….  _ It was like Sakura’s body, continuing to trap in the heat.  _ The warmth that came from her chakra grew more and more hot, but Sakura didn’t feel sweaty, and she didn’t feel uncomfortable.  **She only felt warmth.** She vaguely noticed Haku’s face turning to the side, tilting in confusion. No matter. Her vision grew more and more blurry, anyway. But then, Sakura flinched a little, catching Haku’s full attention aga--- _ it hurts. It hurts, it hurts,  _ **_it hurts_ ** _ \--- “It’s  _ **_hurting me! G E T L O S T._ ** ” 

In a single moment, the sky turned black, leaving the rest of the world in darkness. Sakura faintly felt the sensation of Haku pushing harder down onto the knife, but it didn’t matter. Unbeknownst to her, her entire body began to turn a deep bubblegum pink. As it got darker and darker, though, her pores began to open wider than usual, but for some reason, she wasn’t feeling it like before. All she knew was that she felt warm:  _ simply very warm.  _ Her body tingled. She closed her eyes…

_ … And when she opened them,  _ **_sunrays beamed through her eyes._ **

The mask that Haku wore immediately melted at the  _ extreme, extreme,  _ **_extreme heat_ ** that followed with Sakura’s flaming gaze, and he jumped up and away from her, allowing the remaining beams of sunray to shoot back into the sky and disappear, reappearing in the sun as it brought light and life back to the momentarily darkened universe, as well as heat. The pinkness in Sakura’s body continued to grow darker, forcing her glands to pry themselves open even further. The glowing started up again, this time only emitting from Sakura’s complete backside. Tossing her legs into the air, she flung them forward and effectively snatched her body up off of the ground. But due to the large amount of power Sakura had flowing through her backside, she allowed it to fall into her calves as she was then jolted back into the sky due to the huge load. Midair, Sakura’s calves grew light,  **but her feet grew heavy** . Sakura fell down even quicker than she did before, landing feet first again. But this time, he knees didn’t give in nor buckle. As soon as her feet grazed the surface of the wooden boards beneath her, it cracked and caved in upon impact, prompting Sakura to safely hop backwards, being sure to not land too harshly again. She and Haku watched each other, but Sakura did so much more intensely. The mask had melted, and Haku’s front side was a bright pink ---but not the type of pink that Sakura would get--- but pinkish…  **_as if he’d been burned._ ** His face was still rather clear, but there were obvious burns and blemishes, making it look as though a torch was held up to his face. Sakura stared in bewilderment. Though, bewilderment swiftly turned into amazement. Amazement in regards to  _ herself.  _

“I… Did  _ I  _ do that?” Sakura asked. Who was she asking, though? Whos knows. What does it matter?  _ Sakura truly did create a jutsu that could easily help her get the upperhand in battle.  _ **_Sakura won!_ **

Haku ---now bare-faced--- snarled at Sakura. “ _ You…  _ **_You should just give up now. Don’t make this difficult!_ ** ” Sakura continued to stare at Haku as he continued on, both completely obvious to the extremely surprised looking expressions on both Zabuza, Tazuna, Sasuke,  _ and  _ Kakashi’s faces.  _ No one expected Sakura to win a fight this way.  _ **_Not even Sakura._ ** “ **_Just stay out of our way, and I WON’T have to KILL you!_ ** ” Silence followed. Sakura stood there dumbly, a possible answer not even crossing her subconscious. She and Haku continued to look at each other, both unmoving and quiet. 

“Sakura…” Sakura stiffened, and leaned her head over towards Kakashi, keeping her eyes on Haku. “When did you…  _ How did you…  _ **What** did you  **_do_ ** just then?” Kakashi asked, clearly blown away at what he just witnessed. Sakura frowned, and tried to think of an answer…

A ninja star flew by Haku’s face, and he dodged effortlessly. All eyes were then put onto the sudden intruder, and every one couldn’t help but sigh. It was none other than the star of the show himself… 

  
**Naruto Uzumaki, the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja.**


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura watched Naruto as he snarled and growled like an animal. He didn’t like what he saw…

Apparently, Haku was the person in civilian clothes, the “pretty girl” that he had met when napping in the woods. Sasuke was taken down by Haku not too long before, and Kakashi had jumped into battle with Zabuza. Sakura watched all of this, the desperation to bring these events to a close with Kakashi, and Naruto, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing, what he’s feeling, and more importantly, he struggled to  _ see  _ Haku,  _ to understand  _ Haku…

Nonetheless, Sakura stood grounded in front of Tazuna. She thought back and forth between the two fights. She’s already worn out, her chakra being much lower than before… She used so much of it, and her body ached, her legs shaking ---but not in fear, this time, but due to exhaustion. She was ready to end this, to sit, and take a break. She needed it. She deserved it… right? She worked just as hard as her teammates this time, she protected Tazuna, she helped Sasuke, she fended off Haku --- _ she did good. She acted like… She  _ **_was_ ** _ a true kunoichi now.  _ **But…**

Tazuna was still at risk, and Sasuke was…  _ gone.  _ Sakura peaked up at Tazuna over her shoulders, and saw the look of uncertainty in his eyes. She began to weigh her priorities…

_ Tazuna mattered most. He mattered the  _ **_absolute most_ ** _ in this moment.  _ **_But everything happened so quick._ **

Kakashi had used a jutsu of his own,  **_Chidori_ ** , but instead of hitting Zabuza, he hit Haku…

Haku… was a villain ---so,  _ so he deserved it!  _ But, at the same time, based on Naruto’s reactions to Haku…  _ Did he really? _

Still, the moment she was able to, Sakura couldn’t help but ask Naruto, “Is Sasuke okay? Where is he?” But once she saw the condition he was in up close, Sakura horribly regretted it. Sitting at Sasuke’s side, Sakura stared. Her mind was blank, her emotions were bleak, and suddenly, everything seemed like it was colored grey. Her heart felt a little more heavy, a bit more  _ present  _ than usual, beating against her chest from the inside. Even though she couldn’t tell if she was feeling something, or if her feelings stopped working or  _ what,  _ her body twitched, again and again,  _ quivering.  _ Her nose felt a little more loose, and she kept sniffing. Raindrops fell onto Sasuke’s body,  _ again and again.  _ Ah, but then again, they were tears;  **Sakura cried.** She cried, but she  **laughed.**

“You know, Mr. Tazuna… I want to be honest with you right now,  _ really honest.  _ I hope you don’t take this the wrong way…” Sakura said, continuing to look down upon Sasuke. Tazuna then replied, “Go on ahead, child. Nothing could mean more, right now: I know you need it…” And so, Sakura went on to confess.

“ _ I was bright. _ ”

“ _ I’m really, really smart. Every test was aced. Every trivia question,  _ **_was trivial_ ** _ to me. I didn’t need to try and succeed in school. It was simple.  _ **_It was easy._ ** _ That said, I want to tell you something: it’s an interesting trivia fact that I learned a long, long while ago from now.  _ **_There are over a hundred Shinobi Principles,_ ** _ and  _ **_I know all of them._ ** _ I loved being tested on it. It made me special. It made me different than everyone else, because no one else could do what I could. No one else had a sense of memory like I did, and could memorize things the way I could. You know, there’s this one specific rule that all of us academy students had to be tested on, and it was heavily emphasized. It’s the twenty-fifth principle, and goes as stated:  _ **_a Shinobi shall never emote in the field, no matter the situation at hand, for feelings reveal weakness, and flaws in the mind, inevitably unfit for a mission.”_ ** Sakura’s words grew more and more high-pitched, her voice turning into whines, and her tone being choppy, hindered by her crying. No matter if she blinked repeatedly, or closed her eyes,  _ tears just never stopped. The  _ **_tears_ ** _ just  _ **_never stopped._ **

“ _ I won’t lie about it to you, Mr. Tazuna. I have feelings for Sasuke.  _ **_I have so many feelings for Sasuke._ ** _ He’s not a nice guy. From what I remember about him before the academy, he never really was. Still, I fell for him… _ ” Sakura looked up at Tazuna. Her face was wrinkled, snot coming from her nose as she cried. Her face was a little flushed, and she hiccuped. “ **_You must think I’m so, so, so stupid, right? To have feelings for a guy like Sasuke, and expect him to have feelings for someone like me, right?_ ** ” Tazuna didn’t answer Sakura. But he didn’t have to…

Not too long after, though, Gato and all his men appeared. All in a flash, Zabuza ran at the men, kunai knife  _ in his mouth,  _ slashing through all of them until he got to the one he wanted all along:  **_Gato._ ** But, eventually, Zabuza met his inevitable end, falling down to the ground with a loud thud. It was sad, some way…

But things became a little brighter when Sasuke woke up.

Sakura shot up, staring at Sasuke in surprise. “ _ What?! Sasuke,  _ **_you’re alive!_ ** ”

Although, even this moment was short-lived, for all of the ex-men of Gato came running at them. But then, so did the villagers! Naruto grinned, and held up his hands to make a sign. “Guess I should help them!  _ Shadow Clone Jutsu! _ ” Kakashi followed in their example, copying the same jutsu. “ _ Kakashi Style! _ ” Sakura stared, and mindlessly held up her hands to do the same. “ _ Shadow Clone Jutsu! _ ”

All the clones and villagers ran at the enemies, effectively scaring them away. Finally, Team 7’s mission was coming to a close. But before they could turn to leave…

“... _ Just… one final request, Kakashi… _ ” Kakashi looked down at Zabuza, and yet still, he pulled him up into his grasp, and carried him to the corpse that he wanted. Laying Zabuza down, the defeated demon turned to look at the pale, still face. Suddenly, snow started to fall…

“ _ Haku… even though I know it’s impossible for me, I hope that some way, somehow, I can get to you, and… reach you where you are.  _ **_Please, forgive me for what I’ve done, Haku._ ** ”

And so, with that ending their long, stressful battle, Team 7 finally began to depart from the Land of Waves.

At some point, though, Tazuna and Kakashi spoke with each other. “ _ I’ve decided,”  _ Tazuna said. “On what to name the bridge, I mean.”

“What?” Kakashi asked. Tazuna smiled a little. “It’s gonna be the Great Naruto Bridge.” Kakashi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Really? Are you sure that that’s the name you want to go with? Don’t you want to try something a bit more…” Kakashi tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I’d say…  _ catchy _ ?” Tazuna laughed, brushing it off. “Oh, it’s catchy, all right. Besides, that name,  _ Naruto _ , brought us luck in taking back our village. So, surely, it’ll continue to bring luck to this village and it’s people from here on out.”

….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was time for another mission. And just as always, Kakashi came back extremely late. But in the end, the mission was just a whole lot of community service.  _ A lot of it. _

Finally, by the end of the series of “missions,” Sakura and Sasuke were dragging Naruto’s exhausted body back from their training. Unsurprisingly,  _ another  _ argument broke out between Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura sighed, helplessly looking back and forth between the two. Crossing her arms, she couldn’t help but find herself a little irritated. Those two have always been like fire and water, smoke and wind. They always butted heads with each other. They have two different  _ every things:  _ different motives, jutsus, clans, looks, attitudes,  _ personalities --- _ You know it! They hardly agree on anything…

“Whatever, I’m leaving…” Sasuke dismissively threw a hand over his shoulder, turning to leave. Sakura suddenly forgot all about what was upsetting her, and immediately chased after him, rushing to keep up with his hasty pace. “Hey, hey, do you want to maybe do something later?” The words barely left her mouth before Sasuke snapped at her. Abruptly turning around, he then spat, “ _ Why don’t you go do something  _ **_useful,_ ** _ like  _ **_train_ ** _? You’re not even an asset to the team! It might as well just be me and Naruto. All you are is  _ **_dead weight_ ** _ , so  _ **_stop holding me down!_ ** " Sakura stopped, standing in place as Sasuke left her there, completely dumbfounded. She slowly began to frown, and as her face began to burn out of embarrassment, she swiftly spun on her heels and stomped off.

_ Fine!  _ **_Fine!_ **

She needed to train, anyway ---No, no, she  _ wanted  _ to train! For once, she’s actually going to go and train on her own! Yeah! She’ll show him --- _ she’ll show  _ **_everyone_ ** what she could do!

_ She’s Sakura Haruno, Girl Ninja of the Hidden Leaf! _

__

Can’t  **_anybody_ ** say that there is  **_nothing_ ** that she can do!

….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Sakura sliced at a tree near her house. Lazily, she swung the kunai knife left, then right, then left, then right again…

“ _ Ugh, training is  _ **_soooo_ ** _ boring…! _ ” She whined. 

Sakura had been scaring up this tree for about an hour now. She absolutely  **hated** the fact that Sasuke had the nerve to say something so harsh to her, she really, really did. But then again, he said harsh things to just about everyone. To their teacher, to Naruto, to their peers,  _ to her.  _ Sakura wondered if there was anyone at all that Sasuke didn’t disrespect. “I wonder…” Sakura mumbled. “How’d he even get that way?” Maybe Sasuke grew up in the local foster home near the edge of the village. The place is absolutely poor, and hardly suitable for children, and yet kids who have no parents or loses them to battle often get sent there the moment they get caught. Or, maybe, Sasuke lives around neighbors who are mean to him, and outcast him for being a part of the Uchiha Clan. Or…

Is that really an excuse, though?

Does  _ everybody  _ have to feel the wrath of Sasuke Uchiha, simply because of something horrible that happened in his past? Sakura knew lots about Sasuke. Many people who were akin to a fan of his would know a bit about his past. Enough to get the gist of it, at least. He’s an orphan, a stand-alone child. He has no mom, no dad, no anyone. Sakura briefly wonders if he has a guardian at all, but she lets go of this irrelevant thought. What happened to Sasuke was horrible. Something happened to the Uchiha Clan ---she didn’t know the details--- and it resulted in Sasuke turning out the way he is now. Whatever happened to Sasuke’s clan was apparently enough to make him so introverted and broody. It was sad. Sad that he turned out this way, that is.

For someone to become the type of person that Sasuke is now, what took place so many years ago couldn’t have been anything  **but** tragic. Still, the way that Sasuke treats the whole world ---the way he treats  _ her  _ is  **so** **_unfair_ ** ! What in the world did  _ Sakura  _ do to deserve such carelessness from him? What did she ever do to make him want to ignore her, and avoid her, and block her out all the time? What did she say to make him want to berate her, talk over her, and  _ talk  _ **_at_ ** _ her  _ all the time? She didn’t do anything, she didn’t  _ say  _ anything! If being nothing else other than  _ sweet  _ to him is enough to make her some type of  **_burden_ ** , then Sakura knows no other way to approach him. The only person she’d say  _ deserved  _ harsh treatment from her was Naruto and Ino! Outside of those two, she was rather nice to  _ everyone else!  _

Sakura paused, clutching the kunai loosely. Maybe… Maybe Sasuke doesn’t like nice girls?  _ Is that it?  _ But then again, when she’s been ruthless with Naruto in the past, he would butt in and scold her. So… if he didn’t like her whenever she was being nice, and he doesn’t like her any better whenever she’s being mean, then… 

**Does he just not like her at all?** Suddenly, Sakura heard a short chuckle, and turned her head over her shoulder to see who it was. 

“ _ Sakura…! _ ”  _ It was mom _ .

“What are you doing here?” Sakura asked hurriedly. She hid the kunai knife behind her back. She didn’t tell her parents that she was going to train; instead, she told them that she was going to the library for research. She didn’t think she’d see them at all… 

Sakura’s mom, Mebuki Haruno, simply smiled. Although, it had a strange feel to it. “ _ Well _ , call it mother’s intuition, if you will. I couldn’t help but sense a  _ strong  _ spirit, and a mountain load of chakra as I was passing by. I  _ was  _ on my way to the store, and would’ve kept going, too, if it weren’t for the  _ chakra of a beautiful Deity  _ beckoning for me to stop. So, you know why  _ I’m  _ here, now. Why are  _ you  _ here, Sakura?” Mebuki’s tone was very  _ knowing _ . And so, Sakura turned a little pink. She didn’t want to admit it. It was going to make her feel pretty bad, since her parents were basically  _ begging  _ Sakura to train with them,  _ always.  _ So, for her to up and decide out of the blue that she wanted to train was almost like an insult. Sakura might as well have said that it wasn’t just that she didn’t want to train, but she  _ especially  _ didn’t want to train  _ with them.  _ Stuttering, Sakura tried her best to answer her mom. “I, well, I decided to take a break on the way to the library, so… I’m here, now.” Mebuki nodded, “ _ Ah” - _ ing as though she were understanding something that she didn’t before. Mebuki bent down a little, leveling herself with Sakura. She peeked around Sakura, looking to see what was being hidden from her, but Sakura retracted a little, keeping the kunai knife obscured. Mebuki raised her eyebrows at Sakura, continuing to grin. She stood, exhaling dramatically as she placed her hands on her hips. “You know, this place kind of reminds me of the training grounds that I used to go to with your grandma.” Sakura blinked innocently. “Ah, Grandma Fuji?” She asked, and Mebuki nodded. “Yep, that would be the correct grandma, Sakura. All of the jutsus I’ve learned, simple and great,  _ I learned from her. _ ” Sakura stared at her mom blankly. She then began to think. 

People are always telling her to train, to get  **stronger,** so that she can be  _ useful _ to her team, and grow as a kunoichi. She might as well, but…

“So, mom…” Sakura looked down at her feet, shuffling shyly. “I… I want to talk to you about something…” Mebuki nodded, and sat down onto the grass. She motioned for Sakura to sit as well, and so Sakura caringly shoved the kunai knife back into her small ninja kit, and sat down before Mebuki. Her mom nodded at her again. “Go on, what is it?” 

“Right, well…” Sakura began to think of where to start. “Mom… I’m doing pretty good in all the academic stuff, but…” She paused for a split second. “But, I think I might be having trouble with my abilities. I don’t think I’ve been too useful to my squad. I mean, I tried my best the last mission, but… I don’t know, I ---I feel like it was only  **luck** that saved me!” Mebuki listened very carefully to Sakura, and Sakura continued speaking. 

“Mama, I know I wasn’t really  _ serious  _ about training and getting better and all that for a while now, but something…  _ has changed. I’ve changed,  _ I  **have to change.** At least a little. So… so how can I do that? I want to get better, Mama, but I don’t know where to start. Do you think you could tell me?” Sakura stared at her mom, hope filing through the lively colored earthy hue of her irises. Mebuki thought over her answer. “Well, Sakura, that has more to do with you, than with me.” She said. “I can’t really give you a solid answer, but I  _ will  _ tell you this: if you’re truly ready for a change,  _ then you  _ **_will_ ** _ change.  _ Having the  _ thought  _ to do something is quite different than having the  _ means  _ to do something. You’re  _ thinking  _ of changing, but then again,  **are you really** ?” Sakura frowned a little. A short breeze passed, and the pink-haired kunoichi’s gaze slowly fell to her lap. She thought of what else she wanted to express to her mom.

“Mama… almost everyone I associate with has some sort of special clan jutsu, but what about us?” Sakura looked up at Mebuki again. “What can  _ we  _ do?” Mebuki hummed. “I’m not surprised that you would ask that. I remember all the other little kids in my academy years coming to me, having learned their own clan specialties, asking me what  _ my  _ clan’s special jutsu was. I couldn’t answer them, so I went to my parents, and asked exactly what you and my old classmates did. My parents weren’t so sure, either, and so, they asked your great grandma and grandpa, on my side. Even they couldn’t give an answer. So, finally, your great grandparents asked our great cousin, who had traveled to many parts of the land for research before she passed. I was never told the answer, due to having to move and whatnot a few weeks after,  _ but  _ I do believe that your great grandparents were left with at the very least a  _ clue. _ ” Sakura continued frowning. “Mama…” She said, “You remember when you and Papa said that I got my chakra control from you two?” Mebuki nodded, saying, “Yeah, what of it?”

“How does chakra control work?” Sakura asked. “What do you mean?” Mebuki retorted. Sakura began to think about it. “Like…” She mumbled. 

“How does chakra control work? Like, how does it  _ operate,  _ I mean? Can you  _ really  _ **_control_ ** chakra, Mama? Or, how does  _ chakra itself  _ work? In school, we’re taught that chakra is simply what allows us to be ninjas, and to have life. Is that all? I mean,  _ I  _ **_know_ ** _ what chakra is. But, what is it exactly ---what would be the  _ **_very culmination_ ** _ of chakra?  _ If I dissected it, and stripped it to the barest of bones,  _ what would I be left with _ ? Mama, can you tell me that?” Mebuki stared at Sakura, seemingly puzzled, but also  **intrigued.** “Wow, Sakura, I didn’t realize you had so many questions.” Mebuki laughed a little, “You might as well go ahead and ask me what the meaning of life is!” She gave a final huff of amusement, and then went on to answer Sakura as sufficiently as possible. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you’ve already answered your own question. Like you said, chakra is simply what allows life, and  _ ninja life,  _ to exist. It’s what allows us to breathe, and to manipulate simple things like  _ breathing,  _ **_living_ ** even, should we be able to through something like a kekkei genkai.” Furrowing her brows, Mebuki spoke to Sakura in a low somber tone. “I’m sorry, babe, but I don’t know if we have any special traits to our clan, other than our hair and eye colors, at least, let alone  _ jutsus.  _ Heck, I don’t even think there’s a particular  _ technique  _ exclusively relative to the Haruno Clan at all, to be honest. I guess we kind of lucked out in  _ that  _ aspect.” Sakura’s eyes dropped back down to the earth again, and Mebuki ran her hand over Sakura’s soft hair, trying her best to comfort her precious daughter. “You know what?” Mebuki abruptly asked. Sakura glanced up at her mom. “What?” She asked. Mebuki smiled warmly, and stood from where she was sitting. She turned, looking off into the distance somewhere. “You know, some things are sadly too hard to answer, even for know-it-all parents. These are moments when you need to take things into your own hands, and your own account. After all, answers aren’t  _ given _ , they’re  **found** . So, maybe you should do some searching, Sakura, dear. Go, and find the answers that you’re reaching for. Sadly, even as your broad-minded mother, I don’t think I have the answers you want, or even  _ need _ . Honestly,  **not having all the right answers to your child is one of the harsh realities of being a parent.** I want to set you up for success, but in the end, I can only do so much, because  _ I’m not you,  _ **_I’m not Sakura Haruno_ ** .” Mebuki seemed pleased with the reaction she was getting from Sakura, who looked up at her, completely focused and open. She seemed to be listening intensely. “You told your dad and I that you were going to the library,  _ not to train.  _ I’d scold you for lying,  _ especially when you didn’t  _ **_have to_ ** _ ,  _ **but** I  _ will  _ make a very special exception.” 

_ “So,  _ maybe you  _ should  _ go to the library after all, Sakura. Maybe you’ll find all the answers you’re seeking in a book.  _ Knowledge is the key to success. _ ” Turning around, Mebuki waved to Sakura, and sauntered off. 

Sakura watched her mom until she disappeared from her sight. She bit her lip a little, and looked back to the ground again. Then, she looked up at the sky, and then towards the sun. It was almost late noon. If she wanted to get a good amount of time from the library, then she’d be better off leaving now. 

Sakura stood, dusting herself off, and then began to head towards the library once more. 


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura walked through the doors of the library. It was the nicest in all of Konoha, being four stories and well-structured. It got all of the latest books from all over the village, as well as all the other neighboring villages. It was essentially an international library. She glanced over all of the books that filled the room. There was so much to read…

Wandering, she found herself in the nonfiction section. There were plenty of books to read about all sorts of things. History of lands, of villages, of clans and more. She continued glancing about the shelves, seeing what was offered to her. People really underestimate non-fiction books. While it can surely grow to be a huge strain on the attention span, especially if the attention span’s already relatively short, books that don’t take place in some majestical land of the unknown but instead in the Land of Wind, such as the Village Hidden in the Sand, are much greater in comparison in plenty of ways. Non-fiction is what reminds people of the world and how it works. It’s what reminds humans why the earth is beneficial to them, rather than it being the other way around. It connects the people upon the planet to its intangible life and forces them to recall the reason it’s as sacred as it is now. Humans, soldier and civilian alike, have marked the planet in all types of ways, for all types of reasons. Family heritages have been destroyed so that others could feel powerful, and wars have begun because people in power didn’t want to give help where it was needed most: which was amongst the poor. Villages have grown hostile to each other, not necessarily because it was needed, but instead due to the fact that not everyone was the same as them. Blood has been shed for the hell of it, and sometimes, no one came to clean up the mess. Where the land would provide, the humans would take: the earth is nothing more than a space made to serve Man, giving without return, and being broken and bent to fit the ever-changing, ever-growing, insatiable human desire for more —that which could never be accurately described; how can something that is so obscure be written or spoken so certainly?

Sakura couldn’t decide what she wanted to read after all…

Well, there was a quick and easy solution to that!

Looking away, Sakura put her finger onto the spine of the nearest book and began to drag her fingertip into the shape of a circle, trailing down the row. One, two, three…

“... This is what I’ll read!” Sakura snatched the book that she landed on by its spine, and spun it over in her grip, reading the title. She hummed a little and went to sit at a nearby table, the faint amber light from the setting sun brightening up Sakura’s corner. She glanced over the title once more. The Flow of Energy at Its Core. It was a science book. Sighing, Sakura nonetheless flipped open to the first chapter, skipping over the lengthy introduction. The first chapter was called “Energy in All its Forms”. How exciting…

Sakura then began to skim over the first chapter.

Energy is the capacity to induce or create change. Such a quantitative measure cannot be birthed nor ended, but rather, transferred and transformed. Depending on its form, the appropriate unit of measurement fluctuates. Energy is what flows through every animate and inanimate thing --

Thud!

Sakura glanced up in surprise, but then grimaced, irritation becoming evident as she groaned a little. This guy --some idiot --decided to slam his books onto the table! Sakura glared at him discreetly as he sat down. Just as she was about to go back to reading, his selection of books caught her eyes. It was an Outland comic book --Outland referring to the vast lands far from the isolated Five Great Shinobi Countries-- and it was written in Katakana. ノルススタル: “North Star”. On the cover was a woman --she looked foreign--and she was frozen in a pose. Her body looked smudged and was colored in with an orangey chromatic, making it look like she was flying. Her hands glowed. Huh. Sakura blankly stared at the picture for a moment. They glowed… her eyes unconsciously shifted over to her own hands, loosely clutching the science book.

They glowed, just like Sakura’s hands did.

Sakura gazed back towards the boy right as he stood up again, and turned to leave. She assumed he was probably going to the bathroom or something like that… but he was leaving, regardless. More importantly, he was leaving his books unattended. He… surely he wouldn’t mind if she just glanced at it, right? Sakura quickly glanced about just to be sure that the guy was gone before snatching up the book. She skimmed through it, and rather than paying any attention to the words, she paid attention to the drawings. They were all so… interesting, but more so personal to her. She stared at a couple of particular pictures. One of them was the main character from the cover, North Star, standing heroically, her hands raised and clenched, chakra --or, energy--encircling them. In the next frame, she opened her hands, and beams of light shot straight out of them. In another picture, North Star struck another heroic pose, the panels showing the energy shooting from her feet and blasting her into the air. Quietly, Sakura chuckled and took the comic book up into her hands. Holding it up, she gazed at the pictures with a dazed smile. “I wonder if I could ever look like that? So… capable, noble and… and powerful?”

“Hey!”

Sakura squeaked, dropping the book in the process. She looked up in surprise as the kid from before yanked the comic book away from her. “Listen, I don’t appreciate you touching my stuff! Just because I left, it doesn’t mean you could just take my things and look through them!” People who were standing around turned to peer at the dispute. See, it wasn’t that Sakura and the unpleasant guy was loud, per se, but instead, the library was rather quiet. The thing with speaking at leveled voices in very quiet places is that sounds and whatnot that wouldn’t have been heard otherwise tends to sound much louder. This was one of those instances. Sakura blushed a bit in embarrassment and abruptly stood. Speaking in an equally sharp tone, she replied, “Hey, I didn’t mean to pry, but I just wanted to take a small glance at that comic book, is all. I didn’t realize that was such a crime.”

“Well, if what you wanted was to take a look, then why didn’t you ask when I was here still?” The unpleasant guy put his hand on his hip. His foot pat at the ground repeatedly.

“I didn’t notice that comic book then, obviously, or else, yeah, I would have asked,” Sakura said. But the unpleasant guy wouldn’t bother to listen to any of it. “Yeah, whatever, I’m outta here. If you’re so interested in these comics, why don’t you get your own copy?” Watching him walk off, Sakura huffed in annoyance. She glanced outside. It was getting pretty dark… it was certainly time to go home. Grabbing her items, she went to check them out and leave.

On the way home, Sakura mumbled her thoughts to herself.

“The chuunin exams… are tomorrow…” Distantly, she heard the sound of clashing knives and echoing cries of hard work. “And I’m nowhere near ready…” Briefly, she thought of her teammates. “Already, they came so far… so much farther than me…”

“Sasuke has amazing skills and even Naruto. Sasuke’s also got that extra power from his heritage backing him up --being an Uchiha must make a ninja-lifestyle so easy… skill is practically second-nature for him, the sixth sense, even. Naruto’s quickly catching up to Sasuke, too. And Sakura… “I’m being left in the dust. I just don’t know what to do…” Sakura glanced up at the stars. Her eyes followed along a particular set of stars, and fell upon the one heading north…  
… The North Star.

“That book was interesting, though… that superhero looked really cool.” Sakura held up her hands as she thought of the poses the superhero lady struck. She stopped in front of a closed shop, its dark window perfectly reflecting her form. Looking into the substitute mirror, Sakura grinned, recalling the phrases she remembered the heroine saying.

“There will always be people who say unpleasant things to you because of who you are, or where you from. But it is not them whose words matter, it is the words of those who will not judge that matters most!” She copied another pose she remembered, saying another quote. “Only you can bring sunshine to the world, and the greatest sunshine comes from you, from deep within your heart!” Heh, these lines were so cheesy. Sakura stood in her pose, and opened her palms a bit more, and felt her pores begin fluctuating and pulsing as she pooled chakra into them. The familiar pink began to rise and color in her palms… how did North Star get the energy to shoot out of her hands like that? As if a jet stream of water was shooting from a water hose? Hm…  
The pink light grew around Sakura’s hands, and so she began to play around with her hand positioning a little. She held her hands out, palms up and wide. The pink glow changed, turning into a bit more of a whisp, and concentrated at her fingertips. Fascinated, Sakura tucked in one finger before moving on to the other --one at a time--watching the concentration of the pink glow switch to the next fingertip. She flipped her hands over, palms down, arching her hands. The glow reverted to this extremely vibrant light, rippling all the way down, again and again, like a blinking hologram. She flipped her hands around again and tightly gripped her fists. The pinkness flocked into a huge flickering flame, burning a faint white at the tips, and like a forest fire, the flames clawed its way up her arms and encased her entire head, her hair rising and dancing among the fire as well. She was like a flame monstress… it was…

“Cool…” Sakura said quietly, mesmerized by what she saw. Slowly, she spread her arms out wide and held up palms to the sky again, and this time, tensed but refused to close her palms completely. As she suddenly tensed up, she watched through the blackness of the window as the pink glow abruptly shot from her palms and straight into the air --bright and neon-colored. It was beautiful… Sakura tried to think of home to describe it. It was like… light, but more physical yet ethereal… like… like…

Like a laser beam.

It was so cool…

Just then, Sakura frowned deeply, her spirit sinking into her stomach as she retracted her hands and allowed her pores to close. She stared at her reflection a bit longer and heaved a long and heavy sigh. She turned away and began to continue heading home. “Yeah, those lasers are cool, but… they don’t hurt. I don’t know what I’m gonna have to do to pass this exam, but, to be a ninja means being willing to fight. If my attacks don’t hurt, then what am I supposed to do in battle? They don’t seem to have any healing properties either. If my powers don’t do anything, then what are they supposed to do aside from being aesthetic?” Sakura sighed again. She looked back up at the North Star. Maybe…

She clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes, but never stopped walking. “I wish I may, I wish I might…”

What is this pink glow that I can make? And how do I use it?

Sakura went silent for a while. And then, she chuckled. And then, she laughed. She laughed hard, and loud --to be honest, she probably looked like a maniac to anyone who might’ve seen her when passing on the way. But, she didn’t care, because she just couldn’t help but laugh at how childish she was in that single moment. It was like being six all over again! “Oh, if only all of my problems could be solved by wishing it away on a star…”

Nearing the porch of her house, Sakura walked through the gates, locking them behind her, and made her way to the front door. Well, it’s true that her issues can’t be whisked away on the tailcoats of a star, but Sakura refused to give up on getting better! The chuunin exams were tomorrow…

... and she’d be damned if she was gonna do anything but pass.


	11. Chapter 11

There was an test. A hard, headache-inducing  _ exam.  _

Regardless, Sakura passed, as did her entire team, so this was nothing more than an aged thought: a passing memory to soon be forgotten. Having finished the exam, which was the very first part of the total chuunin exam, everyone was dismissed to move on to the next exam. 

_ Which was certainly not so pretty.  _

Sakura stood alongside everyone else as she and her teammates stared at the tall daunting forest before them. Just beyond a rickety wire fence it stood: ominous, and boarish; a natural weapon in and of itself, and one of the many blemishes of the earth. 

Sakura shuddered. “Something about this place… is  _ really creepy,  _ somehow.” 

“ _ And it should be,  _ little girl…” 

Sakura and her team turned to look at a young lady. Upon her thinly outlined lips, she bore a grin. “We call this place  _ the Forest of  _ **Death.** Soon, you’ll come to see why…” Sakura grimaced a little, and Naruto blew a raspberry at her. As he then began to mock the woman, Sakura couldn’t help but look the woman over from head to toe. She was pretty, but the fact that she wore an appropriate coat but decided to leave it undone as to reveal her  _ breasts  _ **_in front of underage children_ ** was a little…  _ troubling.  _ It was just so  **indecent.** And if this woman is such a skilled ninja, she oughta know that such clothing is extremely impractical. Well, then again she’s not going to be the one taking the exams, so Sakura supposed it wouldn’t matter. 

“By the way, all of you will need to sign a consent form.” She said. Naruto huffed. 

“What for?” He asked. The lady smirked. 

“Simple: some of you may not be coming back from this test. And I don’t just mean mentally with a couple bruises and scratches --- _ I mean  _ **you may not be returning home at all.** ” She gave a brief overview of the map of the area where they’d all be training.

“The goal of this test is…” She paused for a moment. “... **An everything-goes battle.** ”

“You and your squad will  _ have  _ to retrieve both a Heaven and Earth scroll,  **by any means** **_necessary._ ** One kind of these scrolls will be distributed to each individual team. You will need to work to find and claim your necessary opposite scroll. You will have only  _ five days. _ ” Nearby, Ino and Chouji gasped. “ _ What? But what about  _ **_FOOD?!_ ** ” Disbelief was etched into his voice, and Sakura almost felt bad for the guy, but that quickly passed as the lady voiced Sakura’s current thoughts. “Oh, well, there’s  _ plenty  _ to eat: I just hope you’d know where to look…” Sakura frowned. “I should also mention that there are 26 teams participating.” 

“What? If that’s so, then that means that only so many of us can pass!” Sakura fussed. But the proctator simply grinned coyly. “What good is a performance test if you’re allowed to take it easy?” That said, she breezed through the rules ending it with, “Listen, the best advice I can think to tell you all right now is…”

“ **You cannot afford to die!** ”

Later, Sakura walked around aimlessly as she pondered over the form. She sat down all by her lonesome. She signed it… 

She reached up and tightened her headband. 

This is it. This is what she’s been training for. This is what she’s been fighting for. This… 

_ This is what will make her a kunoichi.  _

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“ **_THE TEST HAS BEGUN._ ** ” 

Upon command, the gates pulled themselves open, and Sakura sprinted into the forest alongside her teammates. As they ran through the numerous trees surrounding them all around, they soon found themselves in an empty area. They stopped for a moment. As if on cue, a sound echoed through the otherwise quiet forest. It sounded like a scream. Sakura shivered. Creepy. As she turned from having glanced over her shoulder, she noticed Naruto was gone. “Oh, where’d Naruto go?” She asked. “He went to take a leak, I guess.” Sasuke mumbled boredly. But then, Naruto returned. “ _ That break was great! I even spelled my  _ **_whole name_ ** !” Sakura groaned. “My  **God,** that is  _ NOT  _ what you say in front of a female! Goodness, don’t you know the proper way to behave before the opposite gender? Where’s your respect?!” But before Sakura could get too deep into scolding him, Sasuke’s foot was swung at Naruto’s head. Sakura gaped, watching in surprise as Sasuke continued to attack. 

“Sasuke, what are you doing?!” She shrieked. “ _ This isn’t Naruto! Don’t be deceived! _ ” Sakura watched, her eyes wide and breath halting as “Naruto” burst into smog, the gas disappearing to reveal some foreign ninja. She couldn’t really see his face, since it was hidden by a mask and wraps. “Which one of you  _ little kids  _ got the scroll?!” Sasuke stood beside Sakura, and held up his kunai, ready to strike if necessary. Sakura gulped a little, but followed Sasuke’s example. Seeing that both weren’t going to answer, the strange ninja growled. Launching himself at them, he snarled, “I guess I’ll just have to use  _ force! _ ” 

Sakura’s heart jumped into her throat, and chakra shot to her feet as she then jumped out of the way. Sasuke flew into the air and did some signs. “ **Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!** ” His breath became fire, and shot at the enemy, but as she ran in the opposite direction, Sakura couldn’t help but notice that the guy had slipped by. Suddenly, she heard Naruto ---the  _ real one---  _ yell out, and so she ran to help him. A paper bomb had gone off nearby, and Sasuke went flying, but quickly retaliated, slicing at the enemy ninja. Sakura then put her focus back onto Naruto. Kneeling beside him, she quickly undid his constraints to free him. As she and Naruto returned to Sasuke, the enemy ninja was gone. He ran away… 

Moments after, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto sat together. They discussed a password, and went over their newly made rule. 

_ Don’t trust anyone unless they know: “A ninja waits til the time is right; when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night,  _ **_that is the moment for a ninja to strike._ ** ”

Out of the blue, a strong gust of wind blew, burrowing into the ground and sending the three little genin back into the bushes and trees, becoming separated. Quickly, Sakura lay flat upon the ground. A few minutes later, she decided to get up and go looking for her teammates again. It wasn’t very long before she approached Sasuke, and reiterated the password… 

...But, where was Naruto?

And just then, the man of the hour appeared: Naruto. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who glanced at her, and the both of them turned to look at Naruto. “What’s the password?” Sakura watched Naruto closely as he restated the password. He restated it…  _ perfectly.  _ Sakura smiled a bit, and sighed in relief. He remembered it. Thank the Heavens, the dim-witted Naruto  _ remembered.  _ But as she thought this, her smile drooped as realization overwhelmed her. She looked at “Naruto” much closer this time, horror contorting her face as her supposed teammate grinned unnaturally wide, and his tongue… his  _ long, long tongue  _ **_slithered_ ** _ out of his mouth,  _ and his body grew ---bones breaking and limbs twisting---  _ pulling his torso  _ **_apart to make a new body_ ** , one Sakura recognized. It was that really,  _ really  _ creepy woman from way before, the one she noticed for a very brief moment…

She pulled out an Earth scroll. It was exactly what they needed to match their Heaven scroll. “Looking for  _ this,  _ child?” Smirking, she opened her mouth abnormally wide --- _ wide, wider, and yet  _ **_wider_ ** \--- and shoved the scroll into her mouth. Sakura and Sasuke watched in disgust as she slowly swallowed the entire thing whole. The woman chuckled. “Well, at this rate, it would seem that there is only one very specific outcome. One of us will have both scrolls…” The air changed, and it grew thick and heavy, suffocating Sakura. Ah, but then again, she realizes that she’s hardly breathing, for the strange woman laughs a little, saying, “And the other one will  _ unfortunately  _ be  **dead.** ” 

Gazing into her face, Sakura froze. Her blood went cold, and unwillingly, she began to vibrate, trembling like a little leaf in the chilly wind. Her eyes grew misty, and her face drained of color. Staring at this lady, Sakura couldn’t help but think it to herself: this woman was  _ terrifying _ . 

This woman was the thing that hides under your bed,

And under your stairs, and rugs, and hides.

She was the one who bumps in the night, 

Whose form fits every shadow; 

She was the misfortune at the end of each, 

“Could it get any worse?”

She was the Witch behind every ancient curse, 

And she was simply wicked.

Daren’t look into her eyes,

For they’re as seductive as the refrain

Of the splatter at the end of the tracks before the Train.

She was the grim end of a fairytale.

This woman was the End

Of the end before the Start;

Her glare alone broke bones and flesh and drained the insides of your heart.

She had a familiar power.

Snakes are alluring and full of danger.

This woman, tall as the Oak Tree and sallow as a sheet,

Snakes were always well-known for deceit. 

And she was one of them, 

a Reaper in the woods, 

Who sought to reap their lives:

Through her eyes was nothing, 

nothing but death, and incoming knives.

She was a monster. 

Sakura looked to Sasuke, and was shocked to see him so scared. Somewhere inside, she felt a little better that even  _ Sasuke  _ got a little scared. Although,  _ little  _ may be an understatement for her: she was  _ petrified.  _ Still, Sasuke stood, trembling like a lamb, and tickling the insides of  _ that  _ **_woman_ ** as she cackled. Sasuke pulled out a kunai knife, and both Sakura and the Woman stared at the weapon in Sasuke’s hand. Was he… Was he going to attack that lady?

“Oh, my…” The Woman began. “Now ---tell me--- what, per se, do you plan to do with that?” Her expression was stony and still, despite being twisted into an off-putting smile. “Are you…  **prepared to kill me?** ” She was taunting him. She hadn’t looked Sakura's way, but it’s as if her gaze was so powerful that even though that was the case, Sakura still felt the pressure; the Woman was taunting Sasuke, and she was taunting Sakura, too. Evidently, she truly didn’t seemed so convinced that they could do her harm, but her guard never let down. Without knowing, Sakura cried at the sight of such a horrible, terrible feind. Still, she watched Sasuke closely, curious as to what he was going to do, knowing that she wouldn’t be much help being paralyzed with such fear. 

He lifted the knife. The Woman and Sakura watched. Sasuke glanced around. He gulped. Sakura gulped. The Woman continued to smirk. Sweat fell down Sasuke’s forehead from beneath his headband. Sakura continued to cry, and shook the earth beneath her with her relentless shaking. The Woman huffed, and began to walk towards the two small genin, raising her own kunai knives in her hand: two, not for each eye of one head, but instead,  _ two  _ for  **_two heads._ ** She tossed them, and they shot like an arrow. A scream bubbled in Sakura’s stomach as she went to open her mouth to bellow. 

And then Sasuke stabbed himself in the leg.

Instead of a scream, Sakura simply gaped, shocked. All too quickly, Sasuke grabbed her and took her up into his arms, and fled deeper into the woods. 

Upon a high up branch, the two squatted in silence. Sakura tried to speak, but Sasuke’s hand clamped over her mouth. “ _ Just keep quiet. _ ” He said. Sakura would’ve complied ---honest! But her eyes were drawn by instinct as they fell upon the gaping mouth of a gigantic snake-like beast. 

She slapped Sasuke’s hand away and shoved him off of the branch. Surprise painted his expression as he looked at the huge snake. Sasuke threw ninja stars at it, and Sakura watched from afar. They thought they got away from that woman. They thought they escaped…

But horridly, the Woman pulled herself through the tight opened wound of the dead snake, and grinned that wicked grin once again. “Thought you were rid of me already?” She giggled. “ _ Well,  _ at least you’re  _ quick on your feet! _ ” The lower half of her body loosed and became snake-like, cleaving itself together. At an astounding speed, she slithered through the trees and around the trunks, heading straight for Sasuke ---the one who had challenged her so boldly before--- but before she could reach him, knives hit the trunk of the tree just before her flickering tongue that made Sakura’s head faint and her knees weak. 

Sasuke had been trying to find a way to get themselves out of this sticky situation, and the conclusion he came to was extreme.  _ He wanted to simply give away the scroll.  _ Naruto wasn’t having it, though: and accused Sasuke of being a fake. Sakura watched, lost. What to do?  _ What to do?  _

Sakura watched Naruto then get struck by the tail of the revived snake. But suddenly, he got so… so  _ strong!  _

__ His eyes  _ glinted,  _ like a fox in the moonlight, but seeing that Naruto would soon tire out her snake, the Woman’s target shifted to Sasuke. “Let’s see if you can keep up…!” Sakura gasped, and looked to Sasuke.

For a moment, time stood still.

Sakura was a pest. Lowly, and small. Useless… 

Her brows furrowed. She was weak. Weak, and inexperienced, and afraid --- **constantly** _ afraid.  _ Afraid of  _ everything _ , afraid of it all; what good is a ninja that’s always overcome with fear? What hero saves the day if they’re unable to overcome their doubt? What could ever come from a shinobi who is too unnerved to even fight back? 

Sakura stood a bit taller, her shoulders back and chin high. She breathed in, and then out. She got down, ready to run. Her pores in her palms widened, and her veins grew heavy as chakra began to pool into them. That familiar pink wasted no time in appearing. Her body seemed to have already gotten used to this foreign ability. Focusing on her feet, the pink glow traveled to its soles, and spread as it intensified. Sakura’s built up potential energy exploded as she broke into a sprint, and she practically flew with the way the energy burst lifted her legs. At the same time, Naruto with the help of his extra strength threw himself before the giant snake that had previously been resummoned, and Sakura skidded to a halt in front of Sasuke. Naruto held the snake back with his small underdeveloped body alone, and Sakura continued to stay low before Sasuke, the pinkness returning to her palms, her hands up and ready to shoot if need be. 

“ _ Sasuke… _ ” Naruto grumbled. “ _ This is a new  _ **_low_ ** _ for you! You’ve got me,  _ **_and_ ** _ Sakura protecting you! I thought you were  _ **_stronger_ ** _ than that, I thought you were  _ **_worthy_ ** _ of being my rival!  _ Sakura is the  _ girl  _ of the group! Even at times like this,  _ she  _ should be the one being protected,  _ not  _ **_you!_ ** ” Sakura pursed her lips. She was kind of… flattered… but a little bit…  _ offended  _ at the same time. Sure, it was considerate in a way,  _ old-fashioned and traditional for sure,  _ but nonetheless sweet. But, then again, Sakura was a kunoichi: she was a ninja, and just as ninja as he and Sasuke was! Briefly, Sakura concluded that this was once again the issue of being a  _ ninja  _ but being a  _ girl  _ all at the same time. Many male ninjas were somewhat traditional in this sense, so it wasn’t surprising; but it certainly reminded Sakura that not too long ago, ninja-life was strictly a male thing, made for males, and built to best suit a  _ male.  _ But as far as Sakura was concerned, although she doesn’t always excels as she wishes she would, she would sure as hell try. She was a girl, but she was a ninja, too. 

And having to constantly fend off the threat of death in battle was simply one of the many duties of a ninja: and duty means doing the things you know you may soon regret.

**Such as murder.**

Sakura watched in disbelief, though, as the Woman grabbed Naruto with her tongue. She was far and high up from Sakura, so she couldn’t hear what she was saying to Naruto, but she did something to his stomach and sent him flying to the far off end of the clearing they were in. Naruto roughly crashed into a tree, and Sakura could’ve sworn she heard something crack!

She glanced behind her at Sasuke, a panicked and yet irritated look adorning her face, catching Sasuke off-guard at how harshly she glared at him. “ **Sasuke,** now, I don’t know what the _hell_ you’re _thinking,_ ** _if you’re thinking at all_** , but that one over there---” She jabbed a finger in Naruto’s direction as he fell. “ _That_ would be our _partner,_ our **teammate!** _You_ handle this one, _tough guy. I’ll_ handle Naruto!” That said, Sasuke stared at this newly bold Sakura as she pushed the pinkish energy back into her feet and leaped towards Naruto with immense speed. 

She successfully grabbed him, tumbling into a roll onto the thick branch. 

All in an instant, from somewhere within, Sasuke summoned the strength to fight. He fought this woman, and it wasn’t long until the battle ended, Sasuke burning her as she was constrained against a tree. But she  _ still came back.  _ Sakura growled, yelling, “ _ Oh, my Lord! Just  _ **_die,_ ** _ why don’tcha? _ ” Oh, but she simply  _ didn’t _ . But… but something was…  _ off  _ about her. A patch of her face was so much lighter than the rest…

“Who even  _ are  _ you?” Sasuke asked. The Woman… or  _ whoever  _ this being was, grinned, and as they spoke, they’re voice grew deeper, and deeper ---more  _ manly.  _

“ _ Why, I would be  _ **Orochimaru** _. _ ” He grinned even wider, his face mimicking that of a maniac’s. “Pleasure to meet you, children,  **_quite a pleasure_ ** .” Doing a symbol, his head weirdly stretched and shot towards Sasuke. Bewildered and caught off guard, both Sakura and Sasuke watched dumbly as Orochimaru bared his fangs, snarling and growling. Opening his mouth, his fangs poked out even further, and Sakura cringed at the  _ crunch  _ sound that filled the air as Orochimaru sank his teeth into Sasuke’s neck. Quickly, he disappeared into the forest after that, and Sasuke dropped to his knees, screaming in pain. Sakura heaved Naruto up over her shoulder a bit, and leaped back to where Sasuke was. He was in so much pain… 

Sakura sighed.

At the moment, there seemed as if there wasn’t anything else to do other than take care of these two the best she could. 

****  
  



	12. Sakura Bud

_ Good  _ **_God,_ ** _ I’m sooo  _ **_sleepy_ ** _ … _

__ Sakura sat kneeled before her fallen teammates. She was guarding them; she  _ had  _ to: they’d do the same for her, no doubt about it. 

But it was  _ so hard  _ to keep from falling asleep…

It was well past noon, and it was getting very dark. This was about the time she normally went to sleep, too. It only made this situation even worse. If only she had a buzzer of some sorts… It’d be so nice to have… In fact…

Sakura looked down at the ground. Hey, whadd’ya know! There’s a buzzer  _ right there!  _ It’s a cute little button-thing, too! How convenient! Sakura smiled, and grabbed the small buzzer. But, before she could push the button, suddenly, Naruto sat up. “Whoa! I must’ve been out for a long time!” He looked to Sakura, and did his big signature grin. Haha, his teeth were kinda pink! Ah, but then again, that may be blood after having been thrown into so many things for a while. Ah, that’s not much a of laughing matter when its put that way. Still, Naruto beamed at her as he then said, “Oh, Sakura! You look so tired! This must’ve been such a toll on you. Hey, thanks for taking care of us! I feel so much better now!” Sakura returned his smile just as intensely. Sasuke then got up right after, and said the same thing! “Sakura! Have you been staying up all night to take care of us? Wow, thanks! We’ll make it up to you somehow, promise.” Sakura almost cried at how sweet their gratitude was ----especially coming from the butthole Sasuke Uchiha. It’s like a dream come true! Ah, speaking of dreams… Sakura looked down at the buzzer. Ah, that’s right! She needs to push the buzzer, so that she can stay awake! Ah, but then again, perhaps Sakura can sleep now since both Naruto and Sasuke are awake. She should probably ask them if they’re feeling fine enough to watch her while she takes a much needed nap. It would be most polite, right?

Sakura opened her mouth to speak. 

But nothing came out. 

Her teammates ignored her, but she kept trying, her throat stretching and straining to make a sound, any kind! 

In that instance, she heard a rustle. Whipping around, to her horror, her eyes fell about that woman ----no, man----  _ Orochimaru!  _ “ **Did you forget already? That is, the feeling of what it is to be** **_prey_ ** **?** ” 

_ Sakura gasped as she awoke.  _

She glanced around. Naruto and Sasuke were still sleep. No one was hiding in the nearby bushes. The coast was clear… Swiftly, Sakura took a kunai and threw it into the ground just before a small squirrel. It stopped in its tracks, and squeaked as it scurried away. She heaved a sigh. “That was a close call…” She mumbled. As it disappeared into the bush, Sakura noticed its back. It seemed a little weird. No matter, though, for as soon as the thought occurred, the furry friend was gone, and the small curiosity disappeared along with its presence. Quickly, Sakura found herself back in that boring state of silence, looming over her fallen teammates. As boredom set in, the natural solution then began to take over, and Sakura’s lids grew heavy. 

_...Stay awake… _

__ _...Stay awake… _

__ _...Stay… _

__

__ **_...Awake…_ **

**** “ **WAKE UP.** ”

Sakura shrieked, her eyes wide and her mind alert. She hopped to her feet, and looked to see who it was that had called out to her. It was three Sound ninja. The middle one, with fur on his back and bandages covering his face, chuckled. “You’re half asleep, kid. I wouldn’t want you as  _ my  _ look-out, that’s for sure…” He and his two allies stood there hauntingly, glaring at Sakura. She whipped out another kunai and held it tightly. “ **Wake Sasuke up, so we can fight him.** ” The middle one ordered. They were trying to intimidate her…

Sakura scoffed. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. In fact, I know so much more than you think! I know that Orochimaru’s behind this, and I can tell that you  _ all work under him!  _ So lame of you, to jump from the trenches ready to attack when a ninja’s at their lowest.  _ How weak.  _ So, tell me: what did he do to Sasuke? Aren’t you guys in on this, too?!  **_What_ ** **is that strange** **_bruise_ ** **on the back of Sasuke’s neck?** ” 

“If not for Sasuke, what else could you guys possibly want?” Sakura continued. For a short moment, she paused, but then huffed. “Surely, it wouldn’t be our  _ scroll,  _ right?” The other enemy ninjas stayed silent. Sakura tensed as the other guy who stood upon a rock spoke up. “As if I’d let you talk to me like that,  **girl.** First, I’m gonna  _ kill you,  _ and then,  **I’m gonna kill Sasuke!** ” But before he could move, the hunch-backed ninja with bandages over his face held up a hand. “Hold on, Zaku,” he said. Sakura made a note to remember that name, and put it to the face: the ninja who’d been squatting on the boulder was called Zaku. The bandage covered ninja slowly approached, walking to a very specific point. It was where one of Sakura’s kunais stood, stuck in the ground. He pulled it from the ground, and examined the dirt. He laughed. “Could you be any more  _ obvious _ ? I thought the appeal in traps was that they were  _ hidden _ ? This fake patch of grass isn’t even the kind that grows here.” He laughed some more, and Sakura’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “The least you could do is do your research, little girl. What a pity.  _ Clearly,  _ what you lack is simply  _ skill…! _ ”   
  


The ninja and his two lackeys leaped into the air, ready to strike. Sakura swiftly swung her knife, cuttin a translucent string, and a log went flying ----another trap she’d laid---- but to no avail. The bandaged ninja easily blew it to bits with the weird contraction on his arm, and Sakura looked in fear as she shakily held her knife a bit higher. But just then, like an angel from the heavens above, a familiar ninja bounced from the trees, landing before Sakura, a youthful pep in his step. 

Why, the handsome Blue Devil of Konohagakure appeared, the ninja Rock Lee!

“L...Lee?” Sakura said. Confusion was evident in her tone, and Lee had to reassure her, saying, “Yes! Don’t you remember what I told you? I will  _ always  _ be by your side any time and any place, should you be in trouble, Sakura!” Sakura noticed a small furry friend on Lee’s shoulder, and he gently placed it down, letting it sprint off once more. 

Not too long ago, before Sakura and her team went to register for the exams, they’d come across a weird boy. He dressed in a green skin tight bodysuit, and while it certainly showed his muscular strength in the most imposing of ways, his personality was childlike, in the sense that he was certainly spritely. A jet black bowl cut bounced and twitched with life, and his skin, despite being covered in small scars, radiated. This young lad was playfully taunting in the most upbeat of ways, undaunted as he stood, a hand behind his back and his other pointed, ready for battle. It was made clear from the first time Sakura saw him in semi-serious battle. Rock Lee was an amazing Tai Jutsu fighter. 

Sakura watched Lee loosen his bandages and go all out in battle with the opposing ninjas, but she noticed he took the more realistic approach. Sakura can admit to herself without doubt that Lee is already on the path to being a great shinobi, but even he can only do so much. So, he decided to take each sound ninja down one at a time. He tried to take the hunchbacked one down first, using his powerful Lotus technique, but what would have been a knockout in a single drop was all for not, as the other sound nin, Zaku, broke his partner’s fall by pushing up a pile of soft dirt from the ground. Having not recovered from using his powerful jutsu yet, Lee was stunted further as the hunchbacked ninja sprinted at him, diving to use his strange contraction. In response, Lee made a strange face. And then, Lee fell to his knees. “Let us show you a trick: we call it, “ _ The Wall. _ ”” The hunchbacked nin said, his tone menacing and cold. Sakura gulped, fearing for Lee. What should she do? Should she do something?

Suddenly, Lee puked, but then his ear starting bleeding. The hunchback gurgled, and revealed his weird arm gadget. “Let me explain: you see this thing here? It is what allows me to hit, even if I don’t actually make contact. Question: what makes up sound? What allows the human ear to hear it?”

Thoughtlessly, Sakura answered the trivia question, “That would be… Vibrations.” 

“ _ Yes,  _ little girl, I’ll be sure to give you a cookie. You see, when the vibration of the molecules in the air create soundwaves, they are collected by the ear and sent to the eardrum. When exposed to soundwaves exceeding that of 150 decibels, presuming the sound is powerful enough, it will upset the fluid of the deepest ear canals. It is then that it becomes impossible for you to keep your balance. Are you dizzy, nauseous? You’d be better off keeping still.” His partner, Zaku, piped up from behind. “That old fashioned Tai Jutsu won’t get you too far with me. I can break boulders and rupture the earth with my advanced jutsu, I can control air pressure and ultrasonic waves. Try to beat  _ that  _ with your outdated moves.” Sakura was surprised. But the situation was quickly brought to her attention.  _ Lee couldn’t save her.  _

She lowered herself with her knife right as the hunchbacked nin sprinted at her. Then, Sakura was lifted into Lee’s arms, and he ran in the opposite direction. Although, the attack nin simply followed, stepping in front of Lee’s path. Lee quickly shoved Sakura to the side of safety, but the metal contraption on the sound nin’s arm was swung into Lee’s ears, the loud constant shriek of the impact it made with Lee’s face ringing directly into his eardrums. Lee’s pupils shook along with the rhythm of the vibrations, and then he fell limp to the ground. He was done. “Alrighty, then,” the Hunchback said. He turned to face Sakura, and she could feel the assured, cocky grin glowing from beneath his layers of bandages. “Time to take out the trash…”  _ Like hell!  _ He got into stance, and as did Sakura. 

Her heart leapt into her throat, but nonetheless she threw a couple shurikens at the Hunchback. But then, Zaku slid into her path, and with the wave of his hands, a powerful wind pushed Sakura off of her feet. For a moment, she flew into the air, and fell into the ground, feeling the terrain thump into her body from head to toe again and again as she rolled. When she finally felt the impact loosen up on her, she landed on her back. She went to stand, but was yanked back --- _ Good God, what was it, a branch? Did she get stuck?! _

__ No, no, it was a  _ hand,  _ gripping her hair and holding it tight. In an instant, her scalp ached, burning as tears inevitably fell from her eyes from the pain. The third sound nin, the girl, cheekily swung Sakura around, laughing at that weak, pathetic mass. “ _ Wow, Rapunzel,  _ what  _ magnificent hair!  _ But you know, if you’d spent less time  _ shampooing,  _ and more time _ training _ , maybe you’d be able to put up more of a fight!”  _ Pissed,  _ Sakura growled, prompting another laugh from her captors as hot tears ran from her face. She looked up at the girl gripping her hair. 

“ _ DON’T TEST ME! You sound jealous,  _ **_wench!_ ** ” 

“Oh,  _ shuddap! _ ” 

Sakura began to gag as her face was suddenly shoved into the dirt, her opened mouth catching it all and tasting the gross bitter soil. Quickly, she began to suffocate, and began pushing at the earth, squirming under the sound nin’s foot. She laughed once more, and looked to Zaku. “Go on ahead, Zaku. Take him out!” Upon hearing this, that familiar feeling washed over Sakura. She’d always figured watching someone stuck in a hole constantly gain and lose hope, struggling to reach a goal always just a few more steps out of reach was sad. Then again, she realizes, being the person stuck  _ in  _ that hole, was perhaps  _ the saddest position of all.  _ **That hole represented hopelessness.**

Zaku huffed. “Why not? That girl seems stuck in a rut, anyway.” The girl giggled. “ _ I know, _ ” She hummed, “Like a rat,  **_cornered._ ** ” 

Huh. That reminds Sakura of something, a fascinating trivia. 

There is no doubt that humans and animals are often connected. Humans, while certainly not the most predatory of creatures, are well-known for our constant position as a possible threat. 

Even though tears were running down her face, Sakura’s mind was blank, and she had no thoughts. He face relaxed, and faintly, she realized she was losing air. She could faint. Should she faint, she won’t have to fight… But if she doesn’t fight, Naruto and Sasuke will surely peril. Her hands laid flat at her sides. Sakura looked like she had given up on trying to free herself by force. The female sound nin watched curiously as Sakura digged through her bag, and frowned upon seeing a kunai knife. 

“You can’t be serious.” She grumbled. Leaning closer to Sakura, she shouted, “Hun, you _lost!_ Just _stop!_ It’s so _pathetic watching you try this again!_ Unlike you, I’m not so **dense** as to think that a simple kunai could fight my battle _for_ me.” She thought she was _better_ than Sakura. Slowly, a tremble broiled, shaking Sakura’s form as if she were being shoved around from every side. Her body got hot, and her face grew pink, and she clenched her teeth. She was pissed. _Pissed. PISSED, my God, she was_ ** _PISSED._** _This_ ** _tramp_** _seriously thought she was_ ** _better_** _than Sakura._ ** _Undeniably, irrefutably, and unapologetically superior._** Sakura outstretched her arm, the knife held far and wide. The sound nin above her kept her gaze steady. “That knife for me?” She quipped. Moving her foot out of the way, the sound nin latched onto Sakura’s hair once more. Sakura thought back to the trivia fact. 

Among the many others, one of the arguably most ferocious animals were the small but dangerous Least Weasel. It is known to kill with its crushing bite as it drains blood. These specific creatures are undeniably, irrefutably, and unapologetically vicious.  **Especially when cornered.**

Sakura forced the blade through her hair. 

A weight, a  _ literal  _ weight, lifted from her shoulders, and in that moment, satisfaction washed over Sakura’s face. Looks of pure shock filled all the surrounding faces. Upon Sakura’s face, however, was a smile. The strong impact of the blade through her hair sent her head protector flying, thumping against the ground amongst her fallen locks. And as her eyes were blurred by tears, she glanced behind at the years of growth that she’d clung to, and as she did so, she reminisced. 

Somehow, she had always thought of herself as a true ninja, because that headband said so. Right?

She’d always thought of herself as the truest admirer of Sasuke, she  **loves** him. To her, Naruto was naive, always in need of a lecture, and so she’d deliver it, believing that she knew so, so much more than he. But those would be nothing more than words. Nothing but castles built in the sky. That was all, and all it’d always be, because she’d find herself always,  _ always,  _ **always watching them from behind. Always being lead, never being followed.**

Why is it like that?

Sakura thinks back upon these instances, and already, there was a disproportionate amount. The time with Tazuna and those rogue ninja, the showdown with Zabuza, the fight against Haku where she had only helped a little, and with Orochimaru…

No matter what, and without fail, those two were always there to save her. Her own capabilities mattered little: for she was a comrade, and to them, was deserving of being saved.

She looked to Lee. Rock Lee…?

If Lee were not the epitome of  **devotion** , then what was?

He not only  _ claimed  _ to have been fond of Sakura. He  _ proved it.  _ He said what he meant, and stood by what he said. They’re not even teammates,  _ they’re not even close,  _ and yet he did exactly as he said he would. He came to her rescue, even in an all-goes-esque exam where the fate of his path as a ninja lies. He might be a boy, but with such noble character,  _ is he not a man? _

There was a lesson to be learned. 

_ And it was about time that she picked it up.  _

Sakura shoved the sound nin away from her, and stretched. Her bones cracked and creaked, and she shook her body a little. “ _ Whew, _ ” Sakura huffed, “ _ Well,  _ let’s see how well I’ll manage…!” Zaku called out to the female sound nin. “ _ Kin! Take her out! _ ” Kin whipped out small needles, and immediately flew at Sakura’s backside. Sakura turned and swung her arm back, and dipped her head back as Kin’s needles came swinging at her. Kin took another jab towards Sakura’s face, needles up, and Sakura gripped Kin’s wrist. She yanked it down and her foot shot up, kicking Kin directly in her chin. Kin’s head was tossed back from the impact, and Sakura’s kunai that had fallen upward in the ground was kicked up by her toes. Sakura pulled Kin’s wrist to the left, and grabbed the floating kunai knife with her free hand, whopping Kin in the temple with its blunt handle. The needles fell from Kin’s weakened grip, and she stood for a moment with a look of surprise, but then her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground. 

“ _ KIN! _ ” Zaku screamed. How could such a pathetically weak little thing such as  _ Sakura  _ take down a kunoichi like Kin?

Sakura gave him no time to wonder of this as she spun to face her new opponent head-on, kunai raised. Zaku gritted his teeth and took a low stance. Sakura quickly pulled out a few more kunais and held them in her hands. Sakura sprinted at Zaku, stretching her legs out a little farther each time, her pores of her calves and below opening a bit wider than usual. A familiar pink began to return. 

“ _ I’m ready!  _ **_Whaddya got for me?_ ** ” Zaku yelled. Sakura kept a blank face and focused stare. She threw the knives at Zaku, and he grinned, holding up his palms to reveal the small holes in them. “ _ Slicing Soundwave! _ ” He shouted. Upon command, a sudden wind blasted in Sakura’s direction. Her body was flung into the sky, and all the knives shot away with her, cutting her exposed parts up. But in a quick series of motions, Sakura made a few signs. “I recognize that…!” Zaku noted. Still, Sakura’s body poofed, revealing a hollow log in the wake of brief smoke. “A substitution jutsu?!” The Hunchback ninja said. 

From directly above, Sakura fell down on Zaku like hail on earth. With another kunai knife in hand, the pink in Sakura’s lower legs grew spotted, and rose to her left hand, the one with her signature knife. Sakura spun the knife’s handle on her fingertips, and with a boost of pinkish-red energy, she held her arm back before flinging the spinning knife at Zaku. He huffed, and blew wind into her direction again. “ _ Are you making another substitute?  _ Come on, now, you could be a  _ little more creative than that! _ ” The knife was shot straight towards Sakura’s forehead, and with the same pinkish-red arm, she swatted it away, returning the harsh breeze. The knife struck the ground between Zaku’s legs, and he looked up towards her in surprise just as she swung at him. 

Sakura’s glowing arm swung at Zaku’s face, and he stepped to the side. Zaku grabbed Sakura by the nape of her neck and dug his fingers into her collarbone, and Sakura squeaked, making him laugh. He hooked his arm around Sakura’s leg, tossing her over his shoulder and rolling with her as her face was planted into the dirt. For a moment, a pink aura emitted from her body and faded, but returned full force in her hands. Sakura held them out, palms down and arched. At the faintest twitch, the pink glow burst from her pores in ripples like a hologram, and with strength coming from seemingly nowhere else but the will to be freed, Sakura and Zaku was blasted back into the air. Still above the ground, Sakura threw her leg around to strike Zaku in his temple, but he held up his forearms to block it. He sent another wave of air, but Sakura quickly anchored her arm around his neck, rolling over his shoulder and clinging to his backside. She wrapped her legs around his form, and as gravity pulled them back towards the grassy earth, Sakura forced the sound nin around, hoping he’d be face-planted straight into the gritty grass. But Zaku turned around again, and Sakura fell onto her back. The added pressure from the weight of Zaku’s heavy body knocked bit of air out of her. Zaku scrambled onto his knees, and climbed on top of Sakura, sitting atop her breasts. As a result, all of her body from her collarbone down was left effectively immobile. Sakura’ s heart jumped into her throat, and her eyes widened, for this particular position was far too familiar. 

Why, from this angle, he reminded her of Haku; the way those two boys hunched over her, and the way they’d both mindlessly hit her. 

“ _ I  _ **_hate_ ** _ dumb little  _ **_kids_ ** **like you!** ” Zaku screamed, his nose almost touching Sakura’s as he growled at her, his voice sharp and throaty. Clearly, he had been pushed to the edge, and so he raised his fist and landed the blow directly into Sakura’s nose. A loud  _ crunch  _ filled the silent air, but Zaku didn’t stop. He raised his bloodied fist again, and punched her in the eye, and then the other. He raised his fist, and struck her in the bridge of her nose. She squirmed against him, but he paid no mind, and raised his fist, striking her in the lip. She cried, but it didn’t it matter; tears where just water to people like him, and so he raised his fist, and hit her. He hit her again, and again, and again. Her face was red and bruised, blood gushing like a rain shower. He hit her, again and again. “ _ You should’ve just  _ **_kept your mouth shut and stayed out of the way!_ ** _ Least then, I would’ve considered SPARING you! But you’re just so goddamn  _ **_annoying,_ ** **you’re a fucking** **_roach!_ ** ” Sakura continued sobbing, as pitiful as it might’ve looked to any ninja with pride, but nonetheless, she replied to her opponent. “ **_No, you’re the fucking roach!_ ** ” Sakura pushed her energy to her legs again, and as they burned molten pink, she threw her legs up and into the ground. In a swift moment, Sakura used the force of the impact to throw her legs up higher and wrap them around Zaku’s neck, catching his raised arm in the process just as he was preparing to strike her again. Sakura locked her legs together tightly, making Zaku gag as he choked, and thrust him into the soil with the force her legs. Sakura turned onto her side, and Zaku’s body rolled in obedience, and she continued choking him with her pink glowing legs, the energy focusing at the backside of her lower limbs as to act like weights upon Zaku’s neck. Sakura took a good look at him. He was certainly beaten up, too, and she could see the busted blood clots in his pink eyes. Not to mention the many bruises and couple of bleeding scars. Sakura scooted a little closer, and held up her fist. “ **Since you’re a** **_roach,_ ** **I oughtta** **_treat you like one!_ ** ” But then…

“ _ Ah, ah, ah… _ ” Sakura glanced up. The disapproving tone came from the Hunchback, who shook his finger at Sakura. “ _ Let’s not get carried away here, Little One. _ ” Sakura frowned deeply, tears easing up but still falling nonetheless. She forgot about him. “You’ve put up such a good fight. I must admit, I’m surprised Kin went down so easy. And while I wouldn’t say you’ve  _ certainly defeated  _ my partner Zaku, you surely stood your ground.” The Hunchback snapped his fingers a little. “ _ Good job, good job.  _ Ah, but you forget:  _ I am still here.”  _ He lowered his stance, making it evident that he was prepared to brawl. “And in such the state that you are,  _ weakened and maybe even low on chakra,  _ it won’t be long before Zaku is able to break free from your grasp.  _ Don’t get comfortable. You’re team is down,  _ **_you_ ** _ are  _ **_weak_ ** _ , your buddy over there is still paralyzed, and you have no other allies to help you. My, my, I wonder how you’ll fare now? _ ” Just as the Hunchback said that, Sakura’s moment of dominance was cut short. While she was distracted, Zaku had gotten a hold of a kunai knife, and stabbed Sakura’s thigh. She screamed and instinctively retracted her legs. Zaku yanked out the knife, and shoved his knee into her forehead, knocking Sakura down. He kicked her again, and she went tumbling towards the other side, not too far from where their own fallen comrade, Kin, lie motionless. Sakura tried to push herself up. Her arms shook, and she fell down. She didn’t give up. She tried to push herself up again. Those darn wobbling arms gave in again, and she buckled down, and fell. She didn’t give in. She tried again, but her strained arms were too tired. The remaining pink filled the surrounding air in a whisp, disappearing into the atmosphere. She fell. This time, she stayed that way, turning to look towards her threatening enemies.  _ Dang…  _

__ _ She really tried this time, too… Looks like she  _ **_really_ ** _ needed more training. _

__ Then, three other figures leaped from the bushes, roughly landing before Sakura. Sakura looked up in shock. “What?” She mumbled. She couldn’t believe who it was. Long pale yellow hair that flicked at the faintest stream of wind blocked Sakura’s view, but she didn’t need to see the front to know who the girl with such a mane was. 

“... **Ino?** ” Sakura called out in disbelief. To this, her companion huffed. “You sound surprised, but I wonder why? After all…” Beside Ino stood her two other teammates, Shikamaru holding his chin up high, and Chouji crouched beside them, ready for the upcoming battle. Sakura’s face of shock turned into that of gratitude, even despite what Ino said next. 

“ **... Sakura Haruno, you will** **_never_ ** **be allowed to outshine me!** ”


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura continued to stare up at Ino and her team. She still couldn’t believe it. She just  _ could not wrap her head around the possible reasons as to why  _ **Ino** _ ,  _ the one Sakura proclaimed so many years ago as her  _ eternal  _ **_rival_ ** , would step in to help. “Ino… why?” Sakura asked. It would be the second time that she asks this, but she was just completely  _ caught off guard.  _ Ino chuckled, but with the way she stood as stiff as an oak tree and focused utterly on Zaku and the Hunchback, the faintest voice in Sakura’s mind couldn’t help but whisper:  _ Ino’s absolutely  _ **_terrified_ ** _ ; just like Sakura…  _

“Heh! As if I’d let you  _ upstage me again _ in front of everybody,  _ especially  _ Sasuke!” Ino said. Briefly, Sakura glanced away to check on her two partners. “In front of Sasuke? I mean…  _ he’s still asleep… What are you talking about…? _ ” Sakura mumbled this underneath her breath, but her voice failed to reach the ears of Ino and her partners as they spoke to each other. “Look at this here… more Konoha  _ worms  _ **_squirming_ ** _ their way into other people’s business. _ ” The Hunchback glared at Ino and her team, and they all tensed up even more than before. Chouji gulped, and looked to his partners. “ _ What’s wrong with you two, are you guys  _ **_crazy_ ** _?”  _ He whispered. His whole face was scrunched up, and he seemed to be sweating. He was certainly unhappy with his situation. Nonetheless, Shikamaru hastily replied to Chouji. “Well, what world are we living in, huh? What, the one where women fight and the men sit back and  _ do nothing? _ ” Ino gurgled. But she didn’t sound too amused…

“Sorry to drag you guys into this…” She said. “But that’s why we’re on three-man squads, right? Together, we move as one, yeah?” Affirmatively, Shikamaru nodded. “Yeah,  _ that’s right _ .” Chouji squeaked, and turned to leave, but Shikamaru quickly grabbed a hold of the impractically long scarf. Chouji made another  _ peep _ as he was yanked back into place, like a dog to their owner. Still, Shikamaru scolded his partner’s cowardice. “ _ The least you could do is shape up in front of the enemy! _ ” Seeing this, Zaku laughed. “You should listen to those words of  _ wisdom!  _ That  _ fat guy  _ knows what he’s saying!” 

Chouji stiffened. His back was still turned from the sound nin, and so he craned his neck to look over his shoulder.

“ **...** ** _Excuse me?_** **_I don’t think I heard that right…_** ” Chouji said. “ _..._ **You wanna run that by me again,** ** _buddy_** **?** ” 

Zaku quirked a brow, and smirked. “ _I_ _said,_ those were wise words, **FATTY!** ” A moment of silence passed. Chouji’s hands balled up into fists. _With the quickness, Chouji spun on his heels and screamed, “WHO ARE YOU CALLING_ ** _FAT_** _?? I’M JUST_ ** _THICC!!_** ” Ino looked at Chouji with an amused look, and Shikamaru blew a raspberry. “Great, now I’ve gotta put up with that. Yeah, _thanks a lot, loudmouth._ ” Meanwhile, Sakura watched this from her flat position on the ground with confusion, wondering _what the hell was going on with that peculiar dynamic they had._ “ALRIGHT, NOW THIS IS PERSONAL!” Chouji widened his stance and got low. It would seem that he was ready for a battle! 

Sakura finally mustered up enough strength to push herself up onto her feet again. As she did so, Ino said to her teammates, “ _ Alright, guys!  _ You know the drill, Ino-Shika-Cho!” Chouji clapped his hands together to make a sign. “ _ Expansion Jutsu! _ ” His body suddenly bloated, and Sakura giggled a little.  _ He literally became a human bouncing ball!  _ “This, followed by  _ Leaf-Styled Taijutsu! _ ” Chouji said. With that, he pounced into the air, and rolled at Zaku ---quite literally like a boulder! Zaku huffed. “ _ Slicing Soundwave! _ ” The air was shot from his hands, but to Sakura’s surprise, Chouji held up well. If anything… he started spinning faster! Then, Chouji hopped into the sky once more, and hurled himself down at Zaku. The poor sound nin stared in stupor, but then the Hunchback came running to rescue him. As this was happening, the girl, Kin, began to wake back up. Sakura watched, but then looked away to her fallen partners. Understanding where her more important priorities would be, she limped over to where Naruto and Sasuke lay. At the same time, the Hunchback neared his partner, calling out to him, “ _ Zaku! _ ” Then, Kin had completely woken up, glancing about in alarm. Ah, but Shikamaru would have none of this! 

“ _ Shadow Possession Jutsu! _ ” Clasping his hands together, Shikamaru’s shadow stretched and reached towards the Hunchback in the speed of light. The Hunchback’s shadow linked to his captor’s, and as a result, the Hunchback froze. Confused, he growled, “ _ What’s going on?! _ ” Shikamaru raised his arms, and held them up to his head like horns. The Hunchback raised his arms, and held them up to his head like horns. Kin, who was now awake and alert, jumped to her feet. “ _ What the hell? _ ” She noticed Sakura, and growled at her in a beastly manner. “ _ Did you take me out _ ?!” She asked. Sakura didn’t even bother to so much so as glance at Kin, even though any seasoned ninja would strongly advise against this. Sakura huffed. “You’d oughtta make like  _ me  _ and come to your partners’ aid. They don’t look so hot over there…” Upon hearing that, Kin looked to her partners. Seeing the fight, she decided to let Sakura be, dashing over to her comrades. “Hey,  _ hey,  _ what’s going on?  _ Everyone keeps ignoring me…! _ ” She immediately noticed how stiff the Hunchback was. In fact, he was not moving  _ at all.  _ It was  _ so strange.  _ “ _ Why am I not  _ **_moving?_ ** _ What’s happening?! _ ” The Hunchback wailed, and despite the struggle, he glanced behind, only to see a smug Shikamaru smiling back at him. “ _ Nothin’ much, just throwing shade. _ ” Kin looked at the Hunchback in bewilderment. 

“...D...Dosu? What are you  _ doing? _ ” Kin asked. The Hunchback, Dosu, struggled to reply. “I believe it’s some kind of paralysis jutsu.” 

Shikamaru looked to Ino. “I’ll leave that girl to you, Ino.” She nodded, and made a sign. “ _ Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu! _ ” Ino fell over, and Shikamaru caught her before she landed flat. To the blind eye, nothing happened. But Kin’s dark eyes grew blank, her pupils dilated, and she stood still. Right beside them, her partner, Zaku, continued to struggle in his small spat with Chouji. “I’ve had enough of this!” Zaku grumbled, glaring at Chouji’s rolling form as he circled him, like a pack of wolves and their prey. Zaku looked to his female companion, and called out to her. However, she continued to stand there, confusing her partners. “Kin, what’s wrong with you?” He asked. But then…!

“ _ Let’s call it a night,  _ **_boys._ ** ” Dosu and Zaku stared at Kin with wide eyes. 

“Listen up and listen well,” Kin continued. “One wrong move, and your teammate here gets it in the neck!” Kin held the knife to her throat. However, these strangely chosen words made it evident to both Dosu and Zaku _exactly_ what was “wrong” with Kin. _And it was only for a moment longer that they stared in disbelief, before their gazes grew cold._ “You wouldn’t want you comrade to be slain, _right?_ So, be good boys, and drop the scroll, and _leave._ Once I can’t sense your chakras, I’ll set your teammate free, _free as a bird!_ _So,_ how’s it gonna be?” Dosu and Zaku grinned. Zaku raised his hand, catching everyone’s gaze for a while. He pointed his palm towards Kin. Sakura, who had been patching up her wounds still, looked over to the unfolding scene. Curious, she wondered what was going to happen next. Zaku looked Kin in her eyes, and without hesitation, **blasted a powerful wind.**

Right at the same time, Chouji rushed to help Ino, whom had transferred her soul into Kin’s body. He took the blow, but the sudden switch in direction of the wind caused Kin’s body to fly back into the air. She was rammed into the nearby tree, and fell face first into the ground. Looking up in surprise, blood fell from her lips, and Ino’s physical body mirrored Kin’s. Even worse ----Chouji had become too dizzy and fell flat onto his butt, and Shikamaru’s jutsu had given out. Chouji held his head, hoping to ease his spinning mind, and Shikamaru cursed under his breath. He hated when his jutsu suddenly gave in like that. Kin, possessed by Ino, spoke out to her “partners”. “What’s  _ wrong with your  _ **_team?_ ** What kind of guys attack one of their own like that?” She asked. Somehow, the concept of betrayal wasn’t apparent in her mind at that moment…

Zaku shrugged. “I guess  _ no good boys  _ like us!” With that, Dosu went on to explain. “You see, we’re not here to play by your little rules, to steal your little scroll, nor to play your little game and pass this test. What we’re here for,” Dosu grinned even wider, “ _...is  _ **_Sasuke_ ** .” Sakura stiffened, and looked back and forth between her partners. Sakura then glanced to Lee. Weren’t his partners coming? Still, Dosu’s speech wasn’t done quite yet, however; “Hm… It would seem that you have some sort of Shadow Paralysis Jutsu.” He noted, looking to Shikamaru. Shikamaru groaned and rolled his eyes. “ _ Shadow  _ **_Possession_ ** _ Jutsu!  _ God, the  _ least  _ you could do is  _ get it right! _ ” Dosu brushed this off, though. “ _ Pfft,  _ **_whatever_ ** . I notice that your control only lasted for about five minutes. Now, that’s not a lot of time, right? As for your partner there,” Dosu gestured to Ino, who was still unconscious in Shikamaru’s arms. “Her jutsu is certainly a slick one. Why, if I hadn’t known better, I’d surely be fooled. But of all the useful applications that such a jutsu could be used for, I notice that whatever happens to the one she’s possessing in that moment,  _ also  _ reflects upon her actual form. I simply have to wonder…”

“ _ Hypothetically speaking,  _ if I were to…  _ act recklessly,  _ and your teammate there  _ didn’t like it,  _ and decided to slit Kin’s throat,  _ she would peril…  _ No? If, by any means at all, Kin were to die…  **your partner would die as well, yes?** ” Shikamaru gritted his teeth. “ _ Tch,  _ what, are you such a  _ monster  _ that you’d do in your own  **teammate?!** ” He said. Zaku scoffed. “Well, if that’s what it comes down to,  **her neck’s as good as broken!** ” Hearing this, a short silence settled. Chouji stared in anxiety. Shikamaru sighed, sounding rather defeated. He looked to the sky. “ _ Why,  _ **_WHY_ ** _ does it have to be  _ **_me,_ ** **why?!** ” Hanging his head, Shikamaru then hissed, “ _ This is such a  _ **_drag!_ ** ” Chouji whimpered. “Yeah, no kidding!” He whined. Sakura bit her lip. Her wounds were pretty dang bad… she’d need a lot more time to recover. And frankly, even though she is in no such position to be complaining about it, she’s already over all this fighting. This entire battle’s been going on for probably over thirty minutes at this point, and right now, what she wants is to simply be able to tend to her partners and herself in peace. Or at least, as much peace as she can get in an everything-goes survival-esque battle. Dosu and Zaku laughed amongst each other. “They’re a bunch of cucks, aren’t they?” Zaku asked Dosu, to which the Hunchback chuckled a little more. “Yeah, from a second-rate village no less.” 

“ **_HEY!_ ** ” Everyone instinctively looked up to the voice to see who had spoken. Everyone’s gaze fell onto the person of the interjecting voice. Sakura and all the others gaped, their eyes wide. 

Up in the trees on a wide branch squatted ninja girl Tenten, and beside her, the white-eyed prodigy, Neji Hyuga!

“We came to collect our partner…” Neji said. He frowned, and then spat, “But  _ clearly you’ve decided to use him as your plaything in the meantime! _ ” He looked to Tenten. “Tenten,  _ get ready! _ ” Tenten, cool as ever, nodded. “Right!” She said. From above, Neji’s eyes shined like a deer in headlights. He scanned over the scene, quiet and calculative, until he understood the exact position he and Tenten were in. From below, Sakura continued watching in silence. But then, she felt an overwhelming chakra come from out of the blue. A chill went up her spine. Something felt… not right. Something felt  **wrong…**

“ **Sakura…** ” Sakura whipped her head around, and to her surprise, it was Sasuke. He’d woken up! But, something was off. “ **...Who did that to you? To your** **_face_ ** **?** ” Sakura noticed that Sasuke’s previous welts were completely healed. She was creeped out, to say the least. Even though she could see that he was certainly fine, she still found herself asking, “Sasuke, are you… ok? Your body, it…”  _ That isn’t right, his body shouldn’t be that way.  _ His chakra never grew so intense that it flickered around him like that… like some sort of  _ cloak.  _ The closest Sakura ever came to that with her pink energy is creating pseudo-flames, but those “flames” only covered her from the shoulders up, aside from her arms, that is. The rest of her body, however, was still uncovered, unlike Sasuke in this particular moment. “ **I’m fine. No,** **_more_ ** **than fine, actually. In fact, I’d say I got** **_stronger._ ** **With this curse, no,** **_blessing,_ ** **I have been given strength. This** **_blessing_ ** **that he gave me,** **_Orochimaru,_ ** **has made me open my eyes, and now I realize who I am…”**

**“...I am an AVENGER.** ”

**“So, I’ll ask you again.** **_Who did that to you?_ ** ” To be honest, Sakura was at a two-way street right now. After getting pummeled like that and not being able to properly reciprocate the beating,  _ let alone to the same extent,  _ **vengeance** sounded like such an appealing thought. She lowered her head, and glanced over to the sound nin. The thing is, though, Sakura’s a ninja. This is the world she lives in. It’s a world where the weak and weak-minded alike will be shouted down and beaten into either submission or oblivion. This was a world where Grade S shinobis fought Grade E or D genin: where militant ninjas fought small defenseless  _ civilians.  _ This was a world where equity wasn’t as much of a factor, but rather, it was  _ equality.  _ Women fight beside their men, gave beatings to men, and also recieved it. Hence why those guys, Dosu and Zaku in particular, had no issue fighting Sakura, even when she clearly was of no immediate threat in that instance. Even if the situation became a bit unfair… 

“ **Who did it, Sakura?** ” Sasuke asked again. Should she rat them out? She thought about it… 

Inevitably, they would  _ have  _ to be dealt with. And even if it’s as they say, and they care  _ not  _ for passing the test fairly with a scroll, but instead, more so about simply getting to tussle with Sasuke, then why get in the way of that? Hilariously enough, they wanted to fight Sasuke when they figured he was weakened. Now that he’s evidently  _ a lot stronger than they expected,  _ the wisest course of action would be to make like a toad and  _ bounce,  _ right?

“ _ Me,  _ **I did it.** ” 

Ah, but there was always that one  _ dumbass  _ who didn’t know when to play mute. 

Sasuke turned to Zaku, glaring daggers, and growled. Sakura continued to watch the scene going down, and scooted closer to Naruto. Shikamaru on the other side of the field used the temporary switch of focus to his advantage, and scooted away into the bushes, Ino’s limp body in tow. “INO!” Shikamaru yelled, quickly catching the attention of his comrade possessing Kin’s body. “BEFORE IT ALL GOES DOWN, YOU NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE!” Ino, or rather  _ Kin _ , nodded excessively, before holding up a sign. “ _ Release! _ ” Kin’s body dropped to the ground, whereas Ino awoke within her own. Chouji scrambled to where his teammates where, and they all ducked down. “ _ What’s happening? _ ” Chouji asked. “ _ Well, how would I know?! _ ” Shikamaru replied. Zaku raised his hands at Sasuke and the rest of team 7. “How about we call it a day, and just let things  _ blow over? _ ” With that said, an even more intense blast of wind shot from Zaku’s hands. “ _ SUPER SONIC SLICING WAVE. _ ” He screamed. For a moment, everyone was blinded and deafened by the strong winds. But when it all cleared, Sasuke stood tall on the other side of Zaku, both Sakura and Naruto safely out of harm’s way. 

Sakura was just as shocked as the enemy nin as they realized how impeccably fast Sasuke had suddenly became, but nonetheless, the battle between Zaku and Sasuke went on. But as with all things, their battle neared its end. But, the kind of ending it lead to… 

“ **These arms of yours… you’re quite attached to them, right** ?” Sasuke mussed. His foot was pressed against Zaku’s back, and he pulled back on Zaku’s arms. But that position… looked very unnatural. Why, if Sasuke pulled a bit harder, then those sockets would surely pop. Surely,  _ those sockets…  _

**God.**

“ _ N...NO… WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! _ ” Zaku cried. But… But Sasuke kept pulling. The sound of tearing tendons and the cracking of clenched bones replaced any noisy thoughts in Sakura’s head.  _ She gagged,  _ but swallowed the uprising vomit back down. Why…  _ why does he keep pulling? Doesn’t he know what he’s doing?  _ Zaku continued to grunt and scream. 

**God.**

**Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.**

“That’s enough…” Sakura said. It was weak, it was quiet, and unsure: much like Sakura most of the time. This…  _ this…?  _ Sakura began to shake. At what? What for? Sasuke was on  _ her side,  _ he wasn’t going to hurt  _ her,  _ so what did it matter? But, for some reason, this wasn’t right. Least, it wasn’t right to her.  _ It wasn’t right to Sakura.  _ Her lips quivered and her knees were weak, but Sakura  _ still stood.  _ Sasuke continued to yank on Zaku’s arms, and the sound nin’s eyes widened wider than she ever thought eyes could. In fact, they were so wide open, Sakura was  _ sure they’d fall out!  _ Ah,  _ but Sasuke just kept fucking  _ **_pulling,_ ** leaning even lower. The cracks of Zaku’ s bone being forced out of its sockets grew louder, somehow.  _ Did they get louder? Or, was Sakura simply  _ **_focusing on it?_ **

**Oh, God.** **_Oh, man._ **

**...** **_This isn't okay._ **

With a final cry of pain, Zaku fell to the ground. His limp dislocated arms fell at his sides in suite. Sakura gazed upon that body. She began to wonder…

...What constitutes what is right or wrong?  _ Who  _ makes that constitution, that  _ distinction _ ? And, what makes those things considerably  _ right  _ or  _ wrong _ ? It was wrong of these random shinobi to appear from the woods and attack. It was wrong because they brought with them disruption and the intent to harm. No, no, not  _ harm.  _ **Kill.** Sakura was harmed, and  _ almost  _ killed, and they intend to kill Sasuke.  _ But,  _ this is an exam made to force young genin to mature. It was designed to stress the participants out, so that they would go all out, and do whatever was deemed necessary to live another day. They signed a consent form. So, by those standards, doesn’t that make this okay? Sakura stood her ground. Her teammates would be so proud if they’d seen what she did. That’s without a doubt. Still, it was unnecessary violence. Or was it? It was self defense when Sakura retaliated, but when she had Zaku pinned, and went to hurt him further  _ the same way he did her,  _ that was perhaps where self defense became simple violence done out of spite. Then, when more leaf ninjas arrived, and when Sasuke woke up… Sakura couldn’t believe that they really wanted to fight. She wondered, did they  _ still  _ want to fight Sasuke, even now? Well, Sakura would hope that they’d now realize that Sasuke… isn’t quite  _ himself  _ right now. That he’s a lot stronger than they thought. Hopefully, they will up and leave.  **Sakura didn’t want to have to watch another person getting hurt this way. Not at all.**

Sakura couldn’t help but realize something. She’d always seen herself and her associates as good people. People on the  _ good  _ side.  _ On the right side.  _ But this… But  _ that, that  _ there that  **Sasuke** did to that poor guy! Sakura was… perplexed. My God,  _ yes,  _ Sakura was both embarrassed  _ and  _ angry at this  _ arrogant loser  _ for beating her the way he did, but these specific circumstances made it hard for her to really hold a grudge. A  _ small beating is all she’d really want,  _ as far as “revenge” goes.  _ She didn’t want his fucking arms dislocated! _ These sound ninjas, that attacked her and her team, were not good people. No, no, definitely not. They were in fact  _ bad  _ people, on the  _ bad  _ side.  **The wrong side.** But, what she realizes, is that  _ sides  _ of which people “ _ play _ ” on, is nothing more than generalized concepts of what distinguishes one from two: the letter “A” from “B”, black from white,  _ us  _ from  _ them.  _ It’s division at its most premium, and that’s without a doubt. 

But people, in reality, are not like that. Oh, no. We are not so simple; rather, we are complex. That much is  _ spine-breakingly obvious.  _

We are not just “good or bad”, “”A” or “B””, nor “black or white”. We’re never just “yes or no”, irrefutably and undoubtedly. As  _ people,  _ that is,  _ humans  _ by most standards, we are just…  _ grey.  _ We’re in between. We are this or that, until the circumstances change. We are one thing, until it loses benefit or meaning, and then we become the other. Maybe this is why people tend to become the very thing that they hate in the end, should they live long enough to witness this. Maybe this is why some people do “bad” things for the hell of it. Sakura reads a lot, and so she noted that this realization is perhaps where the idea of an  _ anti-hero  _ comes from. One who tends to do good things, but mostly for their own benefit, while generally doing bad when it becomes necessary to them, regardless of whether or not it inconveniences anyone else. Sasuke looked to Dosu, and began to approach…

“ **_...NO!_ ** ” 

Sakura barely wrapped her head around what happened, but all she knows is that when her mind caught up with her body, her arms were squeezing Sasuke’s figure, holding him close. She looked up at him, eyes full of fear and uncertainty, and tears falling from her face. Sasuke glowered down at her, detached and empty. But the curse mark that had covered his entire body began to retract, and he became normal again.  _ Human:  _ **Sasuke.**

He dropped to his knees in sudden exhaustion, and Sakura dropped with him. “Sasuke… are you  _ really  _ ok?” She asked. She was obviously worried, but who’d blame her? Her crush on Sasuke was as big as the ocean,  _ everyone knew that _ , but right then, she wasn’t looking at Sasuke. Oh, no. All in all, that was a  _ monster.  _ And she refused to let  _ it  _ wreak havoc once more. Not even on a passing enemy. This was a bit  _ much  _ for a simple hoedown. Sasuke, instead of answering, continued to heave in and out, clutching his head. He must’ve had some sort of migraine.

**_THUMP!_ **

Attention was brought over to Dosu, whose outstretched hand lingered. Beneath it was a scroll. It was his team’s scroll. An earth scroll. “Sasuke, you are indubiously strong,” He said, begrudgingly admitting, “ _ Too strong,  _ that is. I admit that even my squad and I will  _ not  _ be able to defeat you, as it is now.” Dosu walked over to Kin, pulling him up over his shoulder. “Let us strike up a deal: our earth scroll, in exchange for a raincheck.” Dosu then approached Kin’s once again unconscious body, and scooped her up into his remaining arm. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but for now, we’re going to retreat, and call it square.  **But should we cross paths again, we will not run or hide.** ” With whatever dignity he had left, Dosu promptly turned and began to make his way back into the safe haven that was the Forest, ironically, of  _ Death.  _ Sakura, however, did  _ not  _ want things to end like this: a bunch of kids with a bunch of bruises yet  _ no conclusive answers.  _

“Wait!” Sakura stood abruptly, and Dosu did as commanded. He turned to face her. “Yes?” He prompted. “ _ Who  _ exactly is this… this…  _ Orochimaru?  _ And  _ why  _ did he do that...that  **thing** to Sasuke’s  _ neck?  _ Why  _ Sasuke  _ specifically?  **What do you know?!** ” Dosu stood there in silence. He seemed to be thinking of his answer carefully. “I don’t know. All I know is my team and I were sent with an order to kill Sasuke, and so we came to do what we had to.” Dosu turned away again, but continued talking rather than leaving. 

“I don’t know why he sent us to assassinate someone on whom he bestowed such  _ power.  _ I don’t know why,  _ out of all the others,  _ Sasuke survived the curse mark.” Dosu began to walk away. Faintly, he admitted, “ **There are many things I don’t know…** ” Sakura watched him until he completely disappeared into the trees. She thought of what he said, especially that last part. Huh. How  _ humble.  _

Ino and her team came rushing to their aid, and Sakura continued to mindlessly stare into space. She then glanced to Sasuke. He sat there, staring at his hands with a wild look. Maybe he was wondering about what happened not too long ago, when he dislocated Zaku’s arms. Maybe he was thinking about how it was wrong. Maybe he was thinking of what kind of monster you'd have to be to do something like that. Maybe, he thought of how it was  _ cruel _ . Sakura looked to his neck.

****  
**...It would seem that there was also** **_many_ ** **things that she, too, did not know.**   



	14. Chapter 14

Sakura glanced away from Sasuke, and scratched her head. Huh. Her head felt a lot less heavy…

Sakura ran her hand over her hair. Ah, that’s right.

She cut it all off…

“ **_GAAAHHHH!_ ** ” Sakura squeaked, and spun around to see Naruto sitting up, screaming at the top of his lungs like a lunatic. Then, surprise turned to irritation, and she put her hands on her hips. “ _ Naruto!  _ Stop it!” Having brought the attention to herself, Sakura watched Naruto stiffen. Briefly, she wondered if he was hurting. But when he suddenly scrambled over his feet to rush to her side, the thought of him hurting any further became much less of her worry. She groaned. “ _ What,  _ Naruto?” She asked. He pointed at her. “Sakura…” He said, “ _ Your  _ **_hair_ ** _! _ ” Sakura felt her face heat up instantaneously, for then Sasuke began to stare at her, too, and the gaze of both her teammates intensified. She grew self-conscious. “What?” She stammered. Sakura ran her hands over her hair again. “Ah, this? Well, I…” What should she say? Sakura thought about lying. What would be the point, though? What would she gain? Being in this team with them means they’re going to be stuck together for quite a long time. Trust is essential, as well as comfort. So, the best solution would be to simply be honest.

“I…” Sakura paused, before carefully saying, “Got into a bit of a brawl while you two were out, and… things got heated, one thing led to another, and, well... “ Sakura laughed awkwardly. “Some battles require sacrifice, right?” Sasuke and Naruto’s intense stares didn’t ease up at all. They were studying her so intensely. Sakura thought of a way to somehow alleviate the attention put upon her. “Oh, and as you can see, we got a little backup.” Finally, Naruto and Sasuke turned to look towards the other familiar faces. Naruto made a face. “Wait, _bushy brows?!_ ” Sakura growled at Naruto, and pulled on his ear. “ _Don’t you dare say anything horrible about Lee!_ ” Sakura looked at Lee, and smiled. It was curt, but genuine. “He’s been a great help. Lee,” Lee glanced at Sakura in anticipation. “Thank you…”

“Because of you, I feel like if nothing else, I’ve become at least a little stronger.” Sakura expected Lee to respond graciously, however, he moaned instead. “That’s kind of you to say… but I’m afraid my efforts weren’t good enough. Sasuke, you are certainly strong, unlike me, who was beaten to a pulp.” Lee gave an acknowledging nod to Sasuke, who still seemed a little dazed. But then, Sakura found her and Lee looking to each other once more. “ **Sakura** ,” he said. Sakura carefully listened. “The Lotus of the Leaf Village blooms twice. So, when we meet again, I will be a much stronger ninja, I promise!” Sakura smiled a little wider, and nodded.  _ Me too,  _ she thought to herself. “Sakura!” Sakura looked over to Ino, who was waving her over. “Hey, I’ll fix up your hair for you, alright?” Sakura nodded, and came over. 

Kneeling down, Ino began to shape up the rest of Sakura’s hair accordingly. “You  _ sneaky little brat _ . You did all this on purpose, didn’t you?” Ino grumbled. Sakura frowned. Ino was always a rather cynical person, but after that  _ hot mess  _ of a battle Sakura just went through? To be aggravated like  _ this _ ? “Why’re you talking? What’s your mouth gotta do with cutting my hair?” Sakura snapped. Ino huffed. “Yeah, whatever,  _ billboard brow. _ ” Sakura groaned. “ _ Whatever, Miss Piggy. _ ” A short moment of silence passed, before Ino spoke up again. “I know you’re doing all this just to get his attention.” She said. “His attention?” Sakura repeated. “Yeah,  _ Sasuke’s  _ attention. In fact…” Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing that whatever Ino was going to say next was going to be rude, stupid, petty, or all of the above. “I’d say your fishing for compliments at this point.” Sakura scoffed.  _ See?  _ Rude! “Fishing for compliments? Are you kidding me right now?” Sometimes, Sakura just couldn’t believe the things that would come out of this hay-haired wench’s mouth. “ _ Yeah,  _ I said it! And you can’t argue against me anyway, because you know it’s true!” Ino continued with her accusations. Sakura scoffed again. “I’m sure for someone who has put all their effort into their body and hair for all the wrong reasons,  _ fishing for compliments  _ isn’t something new to you.”She said. Quickly, Ino replied, “And you didn’t either?  _ You  _ grew your hair out long  _ with  _ me _ ,  _ remember?” Sakura glanced back at Ino, who didn’t notice this. She looked away, and stayed silent. Not too long after, Ino finished the once horridly uneven cut. She smoothed Sakura’s hair down with her hands. “Well, I did the best I could… some parts were  _ extremely  _ short, so… well… see for yourself.” Sakura bit her tongue, a sense of dread washing over her. Ino handed her kunai knife to Sakura. Hesitantly, the pink-headed kunoichi looked into the reflective knife. She was in such a state of stupor that all she could do was gape in horror. She was probably an inch from being bald… 

It was a buzz cut. 

“ _ Kami! _ ” Sakura cried. Her face heated as she was sure she’d probably cry. “ _ What the hell?! _ ” She whined. Ino took the knife from Sakura, frowning. “Well, this is what happens when you go and make crazy decisions like that. I did what I could do. Now, you just have to deal with the consequences of your choices.” Ino spat. Sakura glared at her as she waltzed away, her long hair swishing behind her. Sometimes that girl really pissed her off. Like, really, really,  _ really  _ pissed her off. 

  
  


~.~.~

It was the following day. 

Sasuke and Naruto were off catching fish, meanwhile Sakura stayed at their camp, tossing logs together. She paused, and stood upright, staring at her work. There was actually a lot of logs that she used. Sakura kicked a couple of the logs to the side, deciding to keep those chunks of wood as extra. She looked back over her pit of wood. Looks good. Great job, Sakura! She stretched deeply, bones cracking loudly as she bent backwards. She groaned, and chuckled a little. She could definitely use a massage. She ran her hands over her head. Her smile immediately turned into a frown as she was quickly reminded of the terrible events that occured.  _ Damn,  _ she cut all her hair off…! Sakura sighed sadly. This was going to take some time to get used to. She stood there, constantly rubbing her hands over her prickly hair. Goodness gracious, Sakura,  _ why’d  _ you cut your hair instead of the foe  _ grabbing it?!  _

Sakura forced herself to focus on the task at hand. The wood. The fire. She should call Sasuke…

Sakura began to go red again, and buried her face in her hands.  _ Uggghhh, but then Sasuke will have to look at her hair cut some more!  _ A few minutes passed, and Sakura decided to try and calm down. Breathing in and out multiple times, she tried to rationalize with herself. “He’ll have to see it, anyway, if not now, later on, and if not today, tomorrow, or the next day, or the next; there’s no way I can hide a cut like this now at all. So…” Sakura slapped her cheeks a little, and stood straight. “Be brave Sakura!” She took another final breath, and then called out to Sasuke. 

Appearing as requested, Sasuke lit the fire as Sakura wanted. Sakura, standing very distantly to the side, easily noticed the way Sasuke kept glancing at her. But not at her, her  _ hair.  _ She turned away into the tent, and laid down. This was so embarrassing. 

A little later, she and the team sat around the fire, eating their fish. The boys kept glancing at her hair, and then each other. Like they were having a silent conversation about it. Naruto would look to Sasuke, giving him a peculiar look, saying,  _ her hair still looks kinda weird, doesn’t it?  _ Sasuke would return the favor, saying,  _ yeah, it’s not the cutest _ . Sakura sighed again, and her teammates focused their gaze on their fish even more. 

  
  


“We need to get more serious,” Sasuke mumbled. “We have 24 hours left to get our hands on a Heaven scroll.” Sakura contemplated replying. She didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself, but… “We’re probably not going to pass.” Sasuke and Naruto looked at Sakura. “Well, isn’t that such an optimistic thought.” Sasuke grumbled. Sakura shrugged. “Think about it: there are 26 teams, and only thirteen complete pairs of Heaven and Earth scrolls. This is the last day, and so what that means is that we’ve already used up 80% of our time. And when that  _ snake,  _ Orochimaru, burned that Heaven scroll, the chances of finding another Heaven scroll lessened even more.” The air grew somewhat tense, and everyone drew silent. Sasuke stood, and walked away. “I’m gonna go get water.” He said. 

But then, Naruto tossed some blank scrolls before Sakura. “You know what I think?” He said. Sakura stared at the scrolls in confusion, waiting for Naruto to speak. “Scrolls aren’t that hard to duplicate, and they can sound kind of similar, so  _ my guess  _ is if someone were to  _ make  _ a Heaven scroll…” Sakura held up a hand. “ _ Don’t even finish that  _ **_sentence,_ ** _ Naruto! _ ”

“Are you even thinking? Even if we  _ did  _ do something like that, you could only ever copy the  _ outside. The moment they open that “Heaven” scroll,  _ they’ll know right away that it’s a  _ fluke!”  _ Sakura fumed. Naruto held up his hands. “Hear me out, Sakura! See, I’m pretty sure it’s a secret code that can only be understood when the two scrolls are put together. So…” Naruto picked at the opening of the scroll. Sakura pursed her lips, and began to mull over the proposition. She nodded, and Naruto went to open the scroll further. However…

  
  


“ _ Don’t do it. _ ” A hand gripped Naruto’s, and both he and Sakura looked to the familiar voice. It was Kabuto. “It isn’t worth it. Trust me.” Just then, Sasuke came, and the situation was explained, and effectively thrown away. But when it came down to it, things got a little tense. “I’ll fight you for it,” Sasuke said. “For that Heaven scroll.” Indeed, Kabuto already had  _ both  _ necessary scrolls. Sakura and Naruto were against this, however. Kabuto saved their life, and he was very consistent on giving them helpful advice. “Sasuke, this guy saved our  _ lives.  _ I don’t think it’d be wise to --” Sakura was silenced by Sasuke. “ **Shut up.** ” She frowned, furrowing her brows at him. “At this point, it’s survival of the fittest. Nothing else matters.” Kabuto hummed, and then chuckled. “You say that, but your heart’s not really in it, is it?”

“If all you cared about was  _ surviving _ , then why’d challenge me so openly? Why not, for example, sneak up on me when I least expect it, when my guard is at its lowest, and strike? After all, that’s what a  _ true  _ ninja would do.” Kabuto explained. The younger ninjas fell silent. That was certainly true. “Hmph. That’s what I thought. However, I  _ will  _ help you to find a place to look to obtain a Heaven scroll, that is, other than mine.” And with that, the ninjas set off through the trees to find a Heaven scroll. 

In the back of her head, Sakura couldn’t help but wonder just how hard they were pushing their luck...


	15. Budding Bud

Kabuto had explained everything. 

The plan was as follows: hide in the vicinity of the tower, fend off the competition, and either stay out of the way of the collectors or beat them off, too. The closer they are to the tower, the more likely these “collectors” will appear.

To be honest, Sakura wasn’t completely sure how’d this go. But nonetheless, simply having a  _ plan  _ that would probably work was comforting enough for her!

And so, she and the others stood there in a very small clearing, not too far from the tower. Kabuto nodded at it. “There it is,” he said. “ **The Tower** .” Suddenly, Naruto screamed. “ **AAAAAAAAALLLLLLL RRRIIIIIIIIIGGGHHHTTT!! BRING IT ON!!** ” Sakura growled quietly, glaring at Naruto. “ **_Shut up!_ ** If you keep that up, you’ll…” Sakura and the others with the exception of Naruto stiffened. A foe was near… 

“Someone’s already here…” Sakura mumbled. Naruto quickly through a kunai knife. But when they all turned to look, it was only a centipede. Phew. Well… 

Sakura shivered. It was an abnormally  _ large  _ creepy-crawly, though. 

Aside from that, Kabuto backed Sakura up on her original point. “You should listen to your teammate, here, Naruto. If you storm through the forest like an elephant, you’ll attract those Collectors like flies. Do us a favor and turn it down a few notches, alright? We’d better find them before they find us…” He trailed off ominously. Naruto gulped, and nodded. 

And so, the journey to the tower began. But it wasn’t too long before they noticed that they’d been walking in circles for hours… the same centipede that Naruto had struck before was still there on the nearby tree. “What’s going on?” Sakura mumbled. Kabuto made a grim face. “Genjutsu.”

Instantaneously, the enemies appeared from the trees. They all looked the same, however. It was about, perhaps, forty of them. Sakura and the others watched Naruto punch one of the clones. But it didn’t disappear…

Kabuto figured out what was going on quickly. “I know these types. Their the ones who are actually weak, but create attacks like these in order to appear strong. They’d certainly love to watch us tire ourselves out, but frankly, we’ve got no choice. All we can do now, is fend them off.” And so everyone did just that. Eventually, enough was enough. Sakura watched in stupor as Naruto created just as many clones in order to fight them off. At the end of the battle, Team 7 proved victorious!

**  
  
**

~.~.~

It was, essentially, the next day once more. 

Kabuto stood with his team, and Sakura stood with hers. “You all did great, but especially  _ you,  _ Naruto. Very impressive!” Kabuto said. Naruto giggled, and Sakura smiled. Sasuke, who was leaning on Sakura, kept a blank face. “Well, this is where we part ways. So long, and good luck.” Kabuto dismissed, waving at the youngins. Sakura and Naruto waved back. “Good luck to you guys, too!” Sakura said. Kabuto’s team proceeded through their door, and once they were gone, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 did the same. 

However, upon entrance, they realized that no one else was there. “I can manage, Sakura…” Sasuke mumbled, hobbling away from the kunoichi’s side. On the inside, Sakura growled.  _ I was really enjoying that! _ , she thought to herself. In that instance, Sakura noticed a large board. She pointed, “Guys, look at that!” She began to read it. 

“If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher; if Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This something is the secret way that guides us from this place today.” Naruto scratched his head. “I don’t get it.” He stated. Sakura heaved a long breath. “ _ Clearly, _ ” She moaned, “It’s talking about the scrolls. I think we need to open them now.” 

Despite having “permission”, opening the scrolls still felt taxing. Slowly, Sakura and Naruto began to peel at the edge of the scrolls, carefully trying to match their pace. But when they opened it, it was a single mark. They watched in confusion as it suddenly began bubbling up in smoke. Shrieking, they tossed the crolls to the side, and whaddya know --

Iruka-sensei has appeared!!

Sakura stared in bewilderment. “Uhm… excuse me? Iruka-sensei?!” Sakura uttered. Iruka explained swiftly. “It’s the duty of us senseis to greet our students at the end of their exam.” He glanced at his watch. “You guys were just in time, too. Great job! Congratulations! You passed the second part of your exam. I  _ would  _ treat you all to some ramen, but…” As soon as he mentioned said salted dish, Naruto went into a whole frenzy…

… a  **loud** frenzy. 

Sakura massaged her head. “ _ Ugghhh,  _ Naruto,  _ shuddap! _ ” Sakura and the other young ninjas continued asking their questions, and Iruka, he continued answering dutifully. As he explained the relevance of Heaven and Earth, Earth referring to strength of the body, he was sure to emphasize on Sakura. She frowned, and nodded. She noticed that he suddenly did a double --no, no--  **_quadruple_ ** take to look closer at her hair. Sakura began to blush once more, and looked away. “Uh…” Iruka cleared his throat, forcing himself to not stare so intensely. “Er… nice… nice cut, Sakura. Are you trying to copy a model, or…?” Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke turned and looked back at her to stare. Naruto looked away and snickered ( **LOUDLY** ), and Sasuke turned away with a small grin on his face, which was obvious to Sakura even though he clearly tried his hardest not to show it. Sakura squeaked, going even redder in the face, and dipped her head down deeply. Frantically, she waved her hands back and forth. “N… No, no, I just… it just…  _ things happened. _ ” She mumbled.  _ All of these  _ **_idiots_ ** _ were being complete fucking  _ **_assholes_ ** _ right now!  _ Iruka blinked. “Uh… I… I see, right. Anyway…” he continued explaining this to them, and it wasn’t long before he told them where to go. 

Not too long after, they arrived at a large stadium. It was where training and other sort of arranged battles would take place. All the other passing teams were there, and so was the proctors and the Hokage. Sakura glanced about. There was a surprisingly large amount of teams present…

Ino’s team was here…

Lee’s team was here…

That siblings from the Hidden Sand, who Sakura could recall seeing quite a while ago, was also there…

Hinata, a girl she easily recognized due to her kekkei genkai, with her other teammates were also here…

… and more.  _ Amazing.  _

“Listen up! The Hokage is going to speak!” Anko hollered, despite the room being dead silent. The Hokage began to speak. “Why do you believe the Hidden Leaf holds this exam in conjunction with our allies?” No one answered, and the Hokage continued. “The exams are, essentially…” Sakura made a face.  _ Essentially? _ , she wondered. “To see a representation of the battle between our nations. If you’d look back to our history, all of our allies are those who once were sworn enemies, who constantly fought for power.” 

“This exam will determine your career as a ninja for the rest of time. Risk is necessary, even your own lives.” The Hokage said. A young boy with a small dog spoke up. “Wait, why do we need to risk our  _ lives _ ?” He shouted. The Hokage calmly answered, “There will be many instances where among all there ever is you could trade for a greater good,  **is your life.** ” Everyone remained silent once more. “That said, I shall inform you all of the third exam!” The Hokage said. But just then a proctor, Hayate Gekko, asked to speak, for which he was granted. “Pleasure to meet you all.” He began mellowly. “First, before the exam begins, I ask of you all to do a favor…”

“...We must have a preliminary before the actual exam. You see, we are under the impression that the first and second round was perhaps too easy. At this stage we need to speed things up a little, so when this many teams pass... “ He began hacking wildy, his body trembling with each wet cough. Sakura shivered.  _ Ew,  _ go home, man. “Excuse me. As I was saying, when this many teams pass, it doesn’t really give us a set standard of quality ninja to work with. We have important people who will be watching, so we don’t want to waste their time. So, if any of you feel like you’re certainly not up for the task, now’s the time to raise your hand.” Sakura quietly scoffed. Who would seriously just  _ up and leave  _ **this far** into the exam? They’ve survived that difficult test, and then the gruesome  _ Forest of  _ **_Death_ ** , so what could be possibly coming next to make someone just toss in the towel? As Sakura was thinking these thoughts to herself, she noticed Sasuke squeezing his shoulder. He was holding his curse mark. His teeth were clenched, and he looked like he was in pain. Sakura immediately felt anxious. “Sasuke, are you okay?” She asked. If he wasn’t in any good condition, things could get bad  _ real  _ quick. Not just for him, but for  _ everyone.  _ The last time that curse mark got a hold of him…

“ _ Shut up,  _ Sakura, I’m  **fine!** ” Sasuke snapped. Getting irritated, Sakura growled back, “ _ You are  _ **_not_ ** _ fine, you’re  _ **_infected._ ** You’re  **infected** and a  **threat.** I’m going to tell the teachers, and there’s nothing you can say to change my mind!” She went to raise her hand, but in that same moment, someone else did, too. “I quit, sorry.” The voice was familiar. Sakura and her teammates looked, and they watched Kabuto walk towards the door, his own team looking at his retreating figure in confusion. As this happened, Sasuke continued grumbling to Sakura. “ _ Don’t you dare!  _ This has  **nothing** to do with you, so  _ stay out of it.  _ It’s not about becoming a chunin, you see…” Sakura stared at Sasuke in puzzlement as he spoke, her eyes wide. “It’s about becoming an  **avenger.** Am I strong enough to be one?  _ That  _ is the question that perturbs me. I can only know, though, by fighting the strongest --the  **_best._ ** ” Hearing that, Sakura thought back to that strange meeting with that Sand Boy, that instance in the hall with Neji, and even those Sound nin, who vowed to stand their ground certainly the next time they’d probably cross paths, without need to run or hide. Sasuke continued, “Here, Sakura, is where the best of the best are. So, again, stay out of this:  **this is the way I’ve chosen, and there’s nothing you can do about it.** ” Naruto snarled at Sasuke, getting into his face to whisper-yell, “ _ She’s trying to help YOU,  _ douchebag! Why’re grinding her for it?” Sasuke huffed. “Naruto,  _ you’re  _ the one I want to fight the most.” Sakura watched these two glare at each other, frowning deeply. 

They’ve come so far together,  _ always  _ together. But Naruto and Sasuke still hardly get along, both of them tend to try and hog the “leader” position every single time they have a mission together, neither one ever really listens to her, she’s never really included…

Moments like these reminds Sakura just how little she can do. Even when it matters most. 

Sakura huffed, but it came out more like a weak mewl. “Fine, have it  _ your  _ way then.” The event continued. “The preliminaries begin. The first preliminary round is one on one battle, at full ability. This is not a drill, so prepare yourselves.” the proctor said. “There are twenty remaining, meaning there will be ten matches. The ones who are victorious in battle will proceed. As for rules, there are none.  **So anything goes** . So, who’s up first?” He looked up behind him, and Anko mumbled a command through her headgear. Slowly, a panel opened. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke was chosen first, despite the names being at random. 

Sakura watched fearfully as Sasuke went to the center to battle. She was worried, yes… but she understood, that there was only so much she could do: and that thing right now, was  _ watch.  _ “Everyone else, please move to the upper levels.” Gekko ordered. Quickly, everyone did as so. Sakura pressed up against the metal rails, and gripped them tensely. “Good luck, Sasuke…” She muttered. After an interesting match, Sasuke was able to take his opponent, Yoroi, down with a single fatal move. However, he seemed more worn out than Yoroi did…

Sakura watched Sasuke walk away with their teacher, Kakashi, holding onto his shoulder. When Naruto asked about it, she said nothing. It’s what Sasuke wanted, and she’d respect that. The fight with Shino began, and to be honest, Sakura was  _ very  _ impressed by his ability! He could be a little, well, disgusting at times with his horrifyingly wide arrange of bugs,  _ but,  _ he was very talented, no doubt about it! The sound nin he’d been going against, Zaku, laid there weakly. Suddenly, Kakashi appeared again. Sakura asked about Sasuke, and Kakashi simply said, “He’s on watch by the ANBU Black Ops. That’s all.” Sakura furrowed her brows, deciding not to press further, and looked back to the match. Next was the other sand nin, the one with the markings on his face. His name appeared: “Kankuro”. The other challenger was the remaining member of what was once Kabuto’s team. Kankuro was an excellent “puppet master”, as their called, using his invisible chakra strings to bring that guy to an end. He was victorious. “Puppet Master Jutsu…  _ brilliant. _ ” Sakura mumbled. Although, Sakura couldn’t help but begin thinking. “Kakashi-sensei, I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick. I’ll return shortly…” Kakashi nodded at her in acknowledgement as she walked away. 

Sakura was now in the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror. Sakura was so sure that her strong chakra control would be enough to get her by. And she hasn’t necessarily practiced, per se, with her strange pink abilities, so she hoped that the weird energy bursts would simply be an extra play card, an “ace”, as Shino so often called it. It  _ could  _ come in handy, yeah, but since she isn’t very well aware of what it can do  _ exactly,  _ well, it just means that using this ability could go amazingly right, or amazingly  _ wrong _ . Thinking this, Sakura’ s mind went a little blank for a moment. Then, she stared at her hair… she sighed once more. Reaching up to rub her prickly scalp, she whimpered. “ _ Kami…  _ this style makes me look like a brute.” Her headband was still tied around her head, sitting atop it in the middle of the pink wisps that was her hair. She continued frowning, and began finding herself in a familiar moment as she fiddled with her headband. 

She tried a few different looks: around her waist, around her neck, covering her eyes a little, covering them a lot, covering one eye, covering the other, well… something just didn’t look right to her. She tied it over her head like a plastic headband again, as she had it before. 

Sakura stared at her look for a while. She pulled it loose. Her forehead was so big, it was already noticeable as it was. Her hair was a mess, and  _ sooo  _ much shorter than what she was comfortable with. Honestly, even having it graze her shoulders was  _ too short  _ for Sakura. She breathed in, and breathed out. She clutched the head protector in her hands, and gripped them tighter. Her ability is still a work in progress, her forehead is grossly huge, and her hair’s practically nonexistent at this point. She looks like a pink bristle pad. 

But this is her  **damn** forehead. This is her  **damn** hair now. Sakura tightly fastened her headband. This headband of  _ hers  _ is now tied over her  **damn** head, whether it made her wide forehead more noticeable or not. Who the hell was gonna stop her?

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Sakura stiffened. That voice. She glanced behind her through the mirror. Of course. 

“Ino…” Sakura said. Ino smirked, flicking her long locks over her shoulder. “Yep, the one and only.” She replied, slowly walking nearer to Sakura. She stopped still not too far away from the pink haired kunoichi, and began to speak her thoughts. “I couldn’t help but notice the way you were looking back there in the arena, and when you just scurried off the way you did, I just wanted to check in on you.” Ino said. Sakura glared, and looked down into the sink distantly. Those would’ve been some very sweet and comforting words, if it weren’t for the state she and Ino’s “kinship” was in. Ino was being a cynical wench. Again, and surely not for the last time. “Mhm, I dunno, Sakura, you’re normally a very smart girl. But that look there? Yeaaahhh,  _ no.  _ Your forehead looks  _ gigantic.  _ And it makes your horrible cut a lot more recognizable than you’d want it to be. You might wanna fix that.” Ino mocked, to which Sakura groaned. “Meanwhile, instead of bothering me about my forehead and stuff, you  _ could  _ be worrying about yourself, and thinking about what you’re gonna do when it’s  _ your  _ turn to fight, and maybe end up fighting someone more powerful than you thought!”

“That’s rich coming from  _ you,  _ Sakura.” Ino said.

“And you’d be no different,  _ Ino. _ ” Sakura snapped. A short silence passed. 

“You sure seem jumpy…” Ino pointed out. “I’d understand if you’d want to quit, though. Even Sasuke collapsed, and he’s a pretty tough guy. Who knows what could happen to you. Best forfeit now, and save face while you still can.” Sakura stayed quiet. Save… face, huh? Sakura thought of something to say. “I appreciate the concern, but as much as I’m sure it’d amuse you,  **I am not quitting.** Not  _ ever. _ And while you’re saying all that to me, again, I suggest worrying about  _ yourself.  _ Even now, you and I are similar in many ways.” Sakura looked up from the sink to stare at Ino through the mirror again. “ _ Very  _ similar.” Another silence settled, and Ino looked uncomfortable. Ah, she was caught in a bluff. Still, she wasn’t done there. “Similar? Oh? Just how similar do we look, I wonder?” She cackled. Sakura gritted her teeth, and turned all the way around to face Ino. “ _ I understand very well how my appearance has been lately. But  _ **just because** _ my hair is gone now, it --”  _ Ino interrupted Sakura curtly. “Oh, I said  _ nothing  _ about  **_hair!_ ** ” Ino then began to let out a full blown laugh, holding her hand over her mouth in a lame attempt to appear more collected than she was. 

“Yeah, that haircut’s  _ terrible,  _ and your forehead looks  _ heinous  _ like that, and --admit it-- you’re  _ weak  _ and you’re  _ well-aware.  _ So, just give it up!” Ino snapped. Irritated, Sakura quirked a brow. “ _ It? _ ” She repeated. “Yeah,  _ it,  _ that  _ sham! _ ” Ino shouted. Sakura put her hands on her hips. “And just what  _ sham  _ could you  _ possibly  _ be referring to?” Sakura asked. Ino went a little red in the face, showing how ruffled her feathers were getting. “ _ That,  _ that  _ sham right  _ **_there!_ ** Sakura, you are a  _ coward,  _ and a  _ loser,  _ and you and I know  _ very well  _ that you are  **NOT** cut out for it out there! You’ve seen those other ninjas. You see how  _ strong they are,  _ and you  **KNOW** how  **WEAK YOU ARE!** ” Ino stepped even closer to Sakura, making her lean back into the sink. Getting in her face, Ino continued shouting at her. “ **Stop pretending to be confident. Stop pretending you actually stand a chance. A haircut is NOT the same as getting stabbed --** ”

“ _ You’re saying this like I just haven’t experienced shit at all! _ ” Sakura seethed, shoving her face back into Ino’s, their foreheads connecting harshly. The metal of Sakura’s headband easily bruised Ino’s sensitive skin, and so Ino quickly shuffled away. She rubbed her forehead, it feeling somewhat tender and being a bright red. She looked at Sakura with a face of shock, who instead looked at her with a look of confidence… braveness, or… was it courageousness? Either way, that specific look said all that Sakura could ever want it to say:

“I am  **not** going to quit. Not now, and not  **ever.** ” Sakura turned her gaze past the befuddled Ino, and standing up straighter with her chin held high, gracefully took her exit. As she passed through the door, she firmly said, “In fact,  **I’m ecstatic.** ”

Walking down the halls, Sakura couldn’t lie to herself, especially in not such an imperative moment. No, actually, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with her forehead. She definitely hated her hair. She was not being confident. Rather, she was being  **bold.** But she has come so  **damn** far. She survived Zabuza, and fought the ever so skillful Haku. She passed that ridiculously  _ hard  _ exam. She made it through the wilderness of the Forest of Death, and stood her ground in her latest scrap  _ with a powerful  _ sound nin,  _ and  _ she fended off Kin even when having to sacrifice one of her most precious features --her long, silky pink hair. She continues dealing with the silent, but painfully  _ obvious  _ humiliation that came with her sudden cut. To many, her drastic loss of hair would symbolize an indubious sign of defeat. But not today: she was going to change that meaning. Today and from now on, as her hair grows, this will be Sakura starting anew, a  _ second birth _ , if you will. This pink-haired kunoichi’s  _ very  _ aware that if she can survive all she’s been through thus far,  _ nothing  _ could stop her now.  _ Nothing.  _ **No one.**

Entering the arena again, Sakura stood beside her team. Gekko coughed some more, and then announced, “The next round is commencing.” Naruto groaned, and slumped over the railing. “Whoever the next contestants are, they’re probably gonna be a pair of weirdos, anyway.” He said. “This place is full of ‘em.” Kakashi snorted. “You’re one to talk!” Sakura laughed at her team, gazing at their silliness in content. Kakashi cleared his throat, and then put a hand on Sakura’s shoulder, pointing. “Oh, but I don’t think you should be laughing right now, Sakura.” Confused, Sakura looked to see where he was pointing, and then stiffened. 

Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka.

It was her turn… and not only  _ her  _ turn. It was  **their turn.** Sakura glanced towards Ino, who had also been looking at her. Awkwardly, they both walked to the center of the arena. Staring each other down, the thoughts running through their heads were rampant. The air was a little tense as they awaited one to speak. 

“I guess… it was only a matter of fate, that we ended up this way.” Ino said carefully. Almost mindlessly, Sakura mumbled, “Yeah.” Ino continued speaking, though. “That may be the case, but don’t think for even a second that I’m going to go easy on you!” Ino’s gaze hardened. Sakura swallowed, hoping Ino perhaps didn’t see. She forced herself to mimic the same face. “And I, too.” Sakura said. Ino raised her brows at her, getting into ready position. 

“May the  _ better  _ ninja win.” Ino said. Sakura’s stare lingered a little. She got into ready position.

“May the better ninja win.” 

Gekko paused for a moment, looking back and forth between Sakura and Ino. “ **Begin** ,” He commanded. 

Sakura and Ino dashed at each other, and immediately went in for a series of kicks and dashes. Sakura pulled back her fist and immediately went to strike Ino. Seeing this, Ino juked to the side, and drilled her fist into Sakura’s stomach. Catching Sakura’s state of nonresponse, she raised her hand to pound her down. But mid-swing, something happened…

She wasn’t seeing the Sakura before her. She was seeing the Sakura from  _ before:  _ when they were…  **friends.**

She thought about that cute little pink headed girl, stumbling around behind Ino. She remembers explaining flowers to Sakura, their purpose and meaning, and comparing themselves to flowers. She remembers a lot from this time. But, people certainly don’t stay the same, not forever, that is. So when it came down to it, down to hurting her… her  _ friend.  _

She couldn’t do it. So instead…

**SLAP!**

Sakura stared at Ino with widened eyes. She held her cheek. “You… slapped me.” Sakura mumbled. Ino blinked. “I… I did.” She said. Sakura’s eyes remained wide, but her eyebrows slowly began to droop as she starting speaking. “You…  _ slapped  _ me, Ino. I mean  **slapped.** In the middle of an important battle. In the middle of an exam, where  _ everyone  _ is to prove how  _ strong  _ they are to important spectators. You  **fucking slapped me.** ” Sakura’ s voice began to raise, trembling as it did so.

“Is this all I get? Is this the most you think I can take?  **Do you think I am so weak that all I could possibly bear is a mild ass SLAP?** ” Sakura snagged Ino’s collar and pulled her close, a memory quickly flashing through her head. They were kids, and Ino had said something very particular. Something that doesn’t sit so well with her now. “ **I remember you calling me a small flower bud when we were younger. Evidently, you seem to think that you’re** **_still_ ** **dealing with that same Sakura bud.** ” Ino’s face contorted in anger, getting red again. “Wha…?  _ I was just being a good friend to YOUR sorry ass! _ ” She shouted, but Sakura would hear  _ none of it!  _

“You wanna be a good friend to me?” Sakura quietly retorted. She snatched Ino’s headband from her waist and tossed it far over Ino’s shoulder. Ino watched it fly in stupor. “ **_GO PUT YOUR DAMN HEADBAND ON AND FIGHT ME FAIR AND SQUARE!!_ ** ” Sakura jumped backwards, getting into ready position again. She whipped out two kunai knives. Ino looked at Sakura. She then turned towards her headband. 

In that moment Sakura leaped. Airborne, Sakura threw a knife into Ino’s pullover. It cut straight through the fabric and dragged Ino down to the ground due to the ferocity it was thrown with. Sakura quickly threw the remaining kunai, and it pinned her by the skirt. Stuck, Ino forced her head around to look at Sakura as the kunoichi slowly approached, swinging two more knives around the tips of her fingers. “What… what the hell…?! You weren’t supposed to be this strong!” Ino wheezed, to which Sakura grimaced at. “For you to say that you’re trying to be a  _ good  _ friend to me and then berate me in the same breath is baffling. Maybe, I’m not even that strong.  **Maybe you’re just not trying.** ” Sakura moved to throw one of the kunai knives again, but in that instant Ino slid out of her top. Ino tore her half-full skirt, leaving herself in bandages and tiny black shorts and a tube top. She quickly shuffled out of the way of the flying knife. Sakura immediately threw the next, and Ino hopped backwards a couple steps. Flipping all the way to the other side, Ino swiftly grabbed her headband from the ground, and fastened it around her head. 

Just like Sakura… guess they  _ are  _ very similar. 

Ino whipped out some shurikens and threw them all at Sakura at once. However, Sakura quickly raised her hands and made some signs. Multiple images of herself appeared, and with each one that got struck down, another clone appeared. Ino froze, watching these clones steadily as they continued growing, even with Ino not attacking. They then began to move, circling her in a strange pattern. Neither of the young kunoichis overheard their teammates in the stands. 

Shikamaru and Chouji glanced to each other. “This is going a lot worse than I thought…” Chouji said. Shikamaru nodded, saying, “Yeah. At this rate, we already know what’s gonna happen… What a drag. I knew it’d be difficult for her to fight this match, but…” Shikamaru analyzed Sakura’s foreign jutsu. “Y’know, I can’t help but agree with Ino. I never knew Sakura personally, but from what I saw back in the Forest of Death, she seemed tough but not  _ this  _ tough. Something’s not adding up.” Hearing this, Naruto was quick to defend his teammate. “Whaddya trying to say, huh? What, you think Sakura’s  _ cheating  _ or something?!” He said in accusation. Shikamaru groaned, annoyed with the loudmouth’s wild allegations. “That’s not what I said, but  _ whatever. _ ” Not too far from them, Neji and his own team murmured about what they saw. “I didn’t realize that Sakura girl was this tough. She’s actually kind of strong, for a kunoichi. But how come the other one’s not holding up so well?” Tenten raised a brow at Neji. “What exactly are you trying to say? Strength is beyond being or not being a kunoichi, power ignores gender in the end.” She looked back to the fight. “I find it interesting too, though, that they both turned out to be skilled. But especially Sakura. In fact, look!” Team 7 and Team 10 listened to Tenten, and obediently looked to where she was pointing. “Look at that strange formation Sakura’s got going on.” Everyone studied it for a moment, before Lee gasped. “Oh my gosh!! It’s a flower!!” He grabbed Tenten by her shoulder, and began shaking her excitedly. “Don’t you see, Tenten? It is clever, because her name is Sakura, which means cherry blossom!” Tenten curtly brushed Lee’s hand off, giving him an awkward grin. “Y-Yes, I know, that’s what I was pointing out.” Meanwhile, back with Sakura and Ino, the Yamanaka child continued to flail about in her frenzy. 

“What… what’s going on? What jutsu is this? When did you learn it?!” Ino asked. 

“Don’t worry about that, Ino,” Sakura said, her voice echoing through the room. “Worry about what’ll happen now as a result of this jutsu.” Mixed in with the moving Sakuras, the original Sakura began to think to herself. For this important battle, something has to be done to keep it rolling. This battle has already gone on for ten minutes and then some, the original ten minutes being used up by Ino and Sakura’s basic back-and-forth ninjutsu. So, while Sakura was surely not too certain as to how this would go…

The Sakuras mimicked the original Sakura’s motion, all of them watching Ino with a spark in their eye. “I  _ have  _ to try it now… or else I’ll never pass!”  _ And I MUST keep my word! _ , Sakura thought to herself. 

Sakura focused her chakra. The familiar weight settling in the veins of her wrists returned. The weight travelled to her palms, the pores opening extra wide and buzzing as the pink color returned. Sakura clasped her hands together. Keeping her hands tensed, she slowly pulled them apart, revealing to everyone a sparkly bolt of pink lightning. It loudly cackled like the wisps of a fire, and the other Sakuras followed in suite. Ino gasped, and summoned her array of shinobi flowers. 

Five Sakuras began to float, a pink glow covering their feets. In unison, they raised their hands slowly. The cackling bolts quivered. The Sakuras on the ground continued spinning in this strange pattern. One of the grounded Sakuras pulled out a shuriken and a kunai knife, and the other grounded Sakuras did the same. Before any of them could attack, Ino took a handful of the shinobi flowers and threw them at the nearby clones. The clones poofed, but new clones immediately took their place. Frustrated, Ino continued doing this, hopelessly trying to lessen the amount of Grounded Sakuras surrounding her. At once, some of them threw kunai knives. Ino dodged with a couple quick side steps. The other Grounded Sakuras threw their shurikens, and Ino dodged once more. Being so focused on these foes, the poor blonde-haired fool didn’t pay any attention to what else was happening. Palms up and open, the Sakuras above continued to hold their thunder bolts. 

Sakura screamed at Ino, “ **WATCH YOUR FOLLIES, INO!** ” Like serving a volleyball, Sakura leaned back and thrusted forward with her shot. The other flying Sakuras followed suite. Ino looked up and screeched, sloppily pulling herself left and right to tiptoe across the arena floors. Each bolt that struck the ground blasted a small crater. Ino was sweating, the constant moving and the sudden heat arising from the bolts of lightning making her feel even more tired than she was. The final bolt struck, and Ino squeaked. She jerked backwards, stumbling as she fell to the ground. She curled up and held her foot… her toes had been struck! 

Sakura and her copies flying in the air descended. They all perfectly fell into place with the fast spinning clones. Sakura held her hands out, palms up and wide. The glowing in her hands grew more saturated and became a whisp. Her fingertips were highlighted the most. As she and her duplicates continued spinning around Ino in the weird pattern, the overpowering shine of her strange pink orbs made the whole room sparkle in the rosy lights. 

“ _ Oh~  _ that’s pretty!” Lee hummed. Naruto and Kakashi leaned over the rails a little, in awe of what they were seeing. It was like a light show. Very flashy. “Beautiful indeed,” Kakashi said. “Yeah, it is,” Said Naruto. He pointed down at the scene. “ _ Look, look!  _ Sakura’s light is making that flower shape!  _ Sakura  _ is making a  **_sakura!_ ** ” The other teams looked closer to see for themselves, and sure enough, it was clear as day: smack-dab in the center of the arena was a giant sakura! Chouji made a face of surprise. “What clan is she from again? Is this a special jutsu?” He asked. Shikamaru seemed intensely focused on the battle, but nonetheless answered. “She’s from the Haruno Clan. There’s really not much to know about them. In fact, most people aren’t aware of this clan at all.” Behind these two, Asuma, the teacher of their team, made a noise, catching their brief attention. “That’s true, indeed. The Haruno Clan is so irrelevant, in fact, that there’s hardly information about them at all, even in the databooks. Their state of origin is extremely vague, their  _ place  _ of origin is essentially unknown, and any abilities of any Haruno Clan member is often unrelated to other clan members completely. Not only that, but members of that clan are typically scattered, and they certainly don’t show much pride in their own community since it has been speculated before that many proven Haruno Clan members don’t even wear their own clan’s symbol.” Asuma continued to lean back against the wall cooly, and back with Team Guy, Neji had listened to the sidebar conversation. Collecting his thoughts, he came to the conclusion, “So, in other words, this is just a particular girl from a no-name clan. I suppose her performance here will make up for her clan’s lackluster reputation.” Tenten scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “ _ Neji,  _ you do realize that  _ I’m  _ not even  _ from  _ a clan, right?!” She asked. Neji looked at her blankly. “Yes, but you’re case is a little different, isn’t it?” Tenten stared at Neji incredulously, and turned away, sighing in defeat. Some people just won’t change. Back to the battle...

With their hands glimmering so brightly and their bodies moving so fast, Sakura and her clones were nothing more than blurs to Ino. All Ino could spot was the moving light, encircling her and caging her in. All together, the Sakuras began to speak out. 

“ **Give up.** ” They said. Ino watched helplessly, sitting still on the ground. 

“ **Just give up. Give in.** ” They said once more. Ino began to tremble, her eyes wide and glassy. 

“ **Just be done. We don’t need to keep fighting. Just say the words, and we’ll be done here.** ” With Ino’s face slowly contorting, a deep grimace settled. Heat rushed through her veins, making her pale skin turn red. Her breathing grew uneven and ragged. 

“ **_Ino_ ** **,** ” Sakura and her clones spoke with a sort of urgency in their tone. “ **Do it,** **_now._ ** ” Ino frantically glanced around at the blurred string of pink light. What pattern was it making?

“ _ Please, Ino. _ ” Sakura cried, her clones speaking with her. “ **Please, give** **_up._ ** ” Sakura could feel herself becoming heavy very quick, and her eyesight began to get spotty from seeing her own bright lights flashed back at her. Her head hurt, too. In the center, Ino howled like an animal, and jumped to her feet. “ _ I AM  _ **_NOT_ ** _ GIVING UP, I HAVE COME TOO FAR! _ ” Instead of waiting for an answer, Ino began making signs. Sakura saw it as familiar. 

The Mind Transfer Jutsu. 

“Don’t be mistaken, Ino,” Sakura warned. “That jutsu was  _ not  _ made for combat.” Ino laughed, but it was  _ not  _ out of amusement. “Oh,  _ shuddap!  _ Who cares?! It’s  _ my  _ jutsu, and if there’s one thing I know, I am  _ definitely  _ going to use it!” She yelled. Sakura pursed her lips. She and Ino hardly got along nowadays, that’s true. But even still, Sakura understood that once upon a time, they were friends, and not just any ol’ pair of friends:  **they were best friends.** And… well, there was just some things Sakura couldn’t stand by, even in the heat of battle. 

“ _ Ino, if you do this, this will be practically  _ **SUICIDE** !!” Sakura insisted. Yet, this was to no avail. Ino finished her hand signs, commanding, “Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!” Sakura watched Ino’s body fall to the ground with a heavy  **_thump!_ ** Limp and lifeless, she laid there face first onto the ground. 

Sakura, however, continued spinning. Sakura hadn’t been touched at all.  **Ino missed.**

Sakura slowed down to a stop, and the pinkness in her hands to reduce to a minimum. The clones remained mirroring their original. Sakura stared at Ino, her childhood friend, current rival, and now, defeated foe. Silence ensued, and Sakura’s lips pursed again, even tighter than before. She began to feel strange. She felt…  _ scared.  _ Not for whether or not she passed, or if Ino had an ace up her sleeve, but simply for whether or not Ino, her  **friend** , was okay. 

Hesitantly, Sakura approached Ino’s body, her clones staying in place, and merely following with their gaze. Sakura stared down at the fallen ninja. “Ino, are you ok?” She asked. Ino didn’t respond. She kneeled. “I… Ino…?” She called. The uncertainty in her voice surely gave it away, that is, Sakura having never wanted to be in this situation --not with someone like Ino, at least. Ino still didn’t speak, however, or even twitch. Looking at her even closer, Sakura noticed the many harsh abrasions and scars that she’d received. She was in very bad condition, actually. She almost seemed… lifeless. 

“ _ Ino…? _ ” Sakura whispered. She began to feel a boiling sense of panic wash over. “ **INO?! INO, WAKE UP!** ” Sakura grabbed Ino by her shoulders and began shaking her, but was suddenly pulled apart from her friend by Gekko. “Stand aside,” He said simply. In that instance, medical nin appeared from the faraway doors with a stretcher and medical supplies. Worried, Sakura stood, and hurriedly asked, “ **Is she ok? Is she breathing, is she going to** **_survive_ ** **this?!** ” A hand was shoved into Sakura’s face by one of the female medical ninjas. “It’s alright, dear, your opponent is fine. Her spirit was lost only momentarily, she is breathing and is very much so alive, now.” Sakura frowned, her eyes watering up. “Well, she’s not really…” Sakura trailed off, rubbing the wetness from her eyes. Ino wasn’t her opponent, she wasn’t her  _ enemy _ . Well, not in the most literal sense, at least. So, when it came down to this, Sakura just… she just couldn’t help freaking out. A small heated battle is one thing,  **killing** is another. Thank the Heavens above, it wasn’t the latter that occured. “What was that, love?” The female medic asked. Behind her, the others quickly strapped Ino onto the stretcher. “I… Well… Uhm, nevermind.” Sakura stuttered. The medic nodded, and went to mumble something to Gekko. He nodded in response, and the medic walked off with her crew. Sakura stood there unsurely, and Gekko acknowledged the anticipating crowd. 

“Due to Ino Yamanaka fainting, she is unable to continue the match. Therefore, the victor is Sakura Haruno!” He said. Sakura looked up at the clapping figures above her, most of them bearing faces of shock. She understood why, though. Most of them were rooting for Ino, rather than Sakura. Who could blame them, though? Sakura was never very exceptional, aside from basic ninjutsu and trivia. Ino, on the other hand, must’ve been more invested in her training, since so many people rooted for her. With this random ability, it almost feels like Sakura cheated. 

Breathing deeply, Sakura turned away from the crowd to walk. But, then, everything became fuzzy, and as she swayed back and forth, Sakura’s knees buckled beneath her, leaving her to fall straight down to the ground. 

She’d finally gave in to her tiredness.

****  
The  _ victor,  _ **Sakura.**   



	16. Chapter 16

When Sakura woke up, all she saw was a white sky. 

Blinking, she looked again. Ah, it was in fact not a white  _ sky _ , but a white  _ ceiling _ . She looked over and saw a window, the blinds pulled up and the curtains closed. Opposite to the window, there was a door. Seeing the room in its entirety now, Sakura realized she was in a hospital room. She was lying in bed, in fact. Yawning, Sakura moves to stretch. As soon as she did, however, she screeched and went stiff. 

**Her entire body hurt.**

“Jeez, what happened to me?” Sakura mumbled. Carefully, she laid flat against the bed once more. She thought of what she remembered before waking up in this place, and then her eyes shot wide open. That’s right. The chuunin exams were taking place, and she was getting anxious. She left to go to the bathroom for a breather, but then Ino came in to talk down to Sakura. Unsurprisingly, she and Ino were then set up to fight. Even though names are supposedly chosen at “random”, it felt intentional that Sakura had to fight Ino, of all people. She would’ve settled for fighting  _ literally  _ anyone else, even some of the more  _ clearly strong  _ ninjas or kunoichis, like the Sand kids, for example. Laughable thought, sure, but Sakura meant that nonetheless! But what happened, happened. Sakura fought a lengthy, tiresome battle with Ino, and in the end —despite everyone’s common belief— Sakura won the fight in the end. She used her special ability, and luckily it turned out good for her. Well, good for the fight that is.  _ Now _ she’s in immense pain as a result.

She heaved a heavy sigh. How long was she supposed to remain here? It was only a minute or so later and she already felt herself becoming extremely bored. 

“Goodness, there’s gotta be  _ something _ to do around here.” She glanced around some more. Ah, but of course, there was nothing. She groaned and looked towards the window. She was in too much pain to open it at the moment…

The best thing she could do was rest, and so she did.

~.~.~

When Sakura opened her eyes again, a quick glance at the familiar lamp in the ceiling gave her an idea of her whereabouts: she was home, more specifically in her own bedroom. She stretched, and squeaked. There was a sudden  _ tang,  _ a slightly painful sensation. But she took her time and slowly stretched her entire body out, her joints cracking and creaking like an old house settling. She was sore, but not so much so that she couldn’t move. She just had to be careful. And so Sakura slowly sat up in her bed, her fluffy blanket falling off of her. She glanced down. She was in her pajamas now. One of her parents must’ve redressed her. Sakura stood, wobbling a little, and then began to make her way to the stairway. Glancing down the stairs, she saw her parents cuddled up on the couch. She slowly made her way down, and when her parents noticed her, Sakura gave a small smile. 

“Hi, I’m home.” She said. Her parents returned her smile, and Mebuki waved a little. “How’re you feeling, sweetheart?” She asked. Sakura then said, “Good. A lot better than before, at least. How’d I get here? Did Kakashi-sensei bring me here?” Her father huffed. “Well, obviously!”

“How long was he here?” Sakura asked him.

“Only briefly. Guess he had better things to do.” Her father said again. She hummed. “Ok, then. Well, I guess I should go thank him then.” Her father, Kizashi, laughed. 

“Like hell! You’re gonna go back upstairs and rest!” He said, pointing up at Sakura’s bedroom. The young kunoichi huffed, and crossed her arms. 

“What? No way! He came all this way just to drop me off, and during such an important event at that! The  _ least  _ I could do is go say thank you!” Sakura fussed. Mebuki stood, turning to go into the kitchen. Glancing over her shoulder, she then told Sakura, “Honey, your teacher is  _ still  _ at that important event you’re huffin’ and puffin’ about as we speak! Don’t you think it’d be a little rude to pull him away from that again?” Sakura opened her mouth to quickly reply, but then pursed her lips tightly together. Her mother had a point: something so simple can honestly wait. “Then… then…” Sakura thought of an idea. “I’ll make him a fruit basket! Yeah! In fact, let’s use pineapple!” She squealed. Her father quirked a brow. “Pineapple? You understand that’s a bit pricey, right? How about we just send some fruits from the garden instead? They’re more fresh anyway.” He reasoned. Sakura frowned, but nonetheless agreed. Mebuki offered to help make it, and so Sakura and her mother gathered some apples, berries, and more, and brought them to the kitchen. They got to work, a short silence ensuing. 

“So,” Mebuki said. “Your hair.” 

Sakura froze up. Going red, she looked away from her mother. Seeing this, Mebuki chuckled, and gave a slick smirk to Sakura. “Oh, honey, I’m your mother. You know me —and you know I would’ve mentioned it at some point. So, just curious —what exactly persuaded your to do…” Mebuki gestured at Sakura’s hair. “That?” She asked. Still blushing, Sakura reluctantly explained her decision. “Honestly, it was just a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. I was stuck in a bad situation; I was being held hostage by my hair, and to be completely honest, I wasn’t… I just… I wasn’t…” Sakura sighed in defeat. “I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t able to really help myself, and my teammates were down, and so… seeing no other choice at the time, I just took my Kumasi knife, and just…” Sakura made a “swooping” gesture, and Mebuki nodded. “Well, how do you feel about it?” She asked. Sakura finally looked up at her. “What do you mean?” Mebuki made a knowing face. “You’ve always taken so much pride in your hair, it was one of your most favored features. So, if you’re trying to convince me that you just cut it all off, just like that, and didn’t care at all —I’d call you absolutely crazy. I know you, baby. So, I just wanna know how you feel completely. What, empowered? Stronger, wiser?” Sakura made a thoughtful expression. “At first, it  _ was _ empowering. Even at the preliminaries. But after all that…” Sakura ran a finger over her spikey scalp. “Well, it’s not very appealing.” Mebuki hummed. 

“Having had short hair, and hair like yours many times in my life, I’ve definitely learned some ways to make it as cute as possible. Would you care to hear them?” Sakura didn’t say anything, but the look in her eyes said enough for Mebuki, who smiled at her. “Alrighty, then. I’ll tell you what I know.” She said. “First of all, you must be confident. More often than not, confidence will save you! So, even if you don’t always feel that you look the very best because of your cut —which is actually very cute — just remember: confidence is key.” Sakura nodded, showing that she was listening. “Next tip: exaggerate your style a little bit. You try to be very cutesy but,  _ urhm… _ I don’t really feel like that’s  _ genuinely _ you. You’re a very elegant type to me, dear. Regal, even, like your grandmother.” 

“Grandma Fuji?” Sakura asked. 

“Yes, dear, that would be the correct grandma.” Mebuki said. “Anyhow, you should try following that kind of style more. Just see if you like it, babe, and if you don’t like, do what you want of course. Finally: if growing your hair out is your desire, be patient. Our hair grows pretty fast, but it’s not so impeccable as to happen overnight.” Mebuki grinned. “Whelp, I’m done with my speech. Whaddya think of that?” Sakura smiled warmly. “Thank you, mom. I’ll think about that.” She knew for a fact that she wouldn’t bother trying to look  _ exactly _ like her grandmother, but she figured she’d consider that regal type of look. She’d just be sure to get some more magazines. Another silence came, much longer than before. As they prepared the array of fruits in all sorts of matters, Mebuki suddenly cupped Sakura’s cheek. Sakura gave her a curious look, to which Mebuki simply smiled. “Also, I heard you did spectacular today; you blew everyone away.” Sakura blushed, and sheepishly smiled. “Aw~ mom, it wasn’t a big thing, really…” Sakura gently pushed her mom’s hand, turning from her. Mebuki grabbed Sakura’s face again. “Sakura…” She said. Sakura looked up at her mother through her lashes. “Yes?” She asked. 

“ **I’m proud of you.** ” 

~.~.~

The following day, Sakura stood outside of Kakashi’s home. It was small and quaint, perfect for a single man she supposed. Upon ringing the doorbell for the fourth time, she is finally greeted by her teacher. Slouched onto the door frame and his eyelids hanging low, he was clearly very tired. But this look of fatigue all but vanished into air when he realized who was standing before him. “Sakura?” Her name came out of his mouth in a long string of stutters, yet still she brushed it off. Holding the basket up a little higher, she bowed and said, “Thank you, sensei, for taking the time out of your busy day to ensure I got home safely. I’m very grateful.” Still flabbergasted, Kakashi shook his head a little, as if shaking himself so vigorously could somehow make sense of what he was seeing. “I… I see, yes, thank you,” he promptly took the gift from Sakura’s hands, and placed it on the nearby coffee table. “But, how, why are you here?” He asked. Sakura scoffed, standing up a little straighter. Crossing her arms, she huffed and said, “Well, obviously I’m here to _thank you_ , like I said!” Kakashi shook his head. “Yes, I understand that, but I mean… _why_ are you here?” Before Sakura’s brow could somehow lift even further up her forehead, Kakashi emphasized further. Pointing around in the general area of his home, he asked, “Why are you _here exactly_? You need to be at the chuunin exams!” Sakura gave him a surprised face. Were the exams still going on? Why did she need to be there any further when she’d already won?

“Why would I need to go back?” She asked. Kakashi continued giving her an incredulous look. “Um… well, you —you know! For support!” He said. “Soon, Naruto will be battling someone. Are you sure you don’t want to be there to support your teammate?” Sakura thinks. It  _ would _ be very rude of her, wouldn’t it? Especially since Naruto was there to support her during her own battle. He was the main one cheering her on, too. She nods. “I suppose your right. I’ll head over there now then. But what about you Sensei, aren’t you coming?” Kakashi sighs, seeming very tired. “Yep, duty calls.” He says. Sakura tilts her head. “What do you mean? Aren’t you just gonna support Naruto?” Kakashi makes a blank face. He waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about that, just get going, ok?” Sakura frowns, but politely bows nonetheless. Turning to leave, she is stopped by Kakashi calling out to her. 

“Oh, Sakura!” She whipped her head around to look at her teacher expectantly. “The third exam is in a month!” He said. Sakura nodded again. “Right, thanks, Sensei!” She was about to walk away once more, but was interrupted by Kakashi. “Oh, and by the way…” he began. She turns to stare at him. Kakashi beams at her. 

“ **I’m proud of you.** ”

~.~.~

Sakura stands above the arena. Naruto has just finished the fight, and good news! —he won! However, the way he won was very…

“Ridiculous.” Sakura briefly glances at Shino, the one who had made the comment. Did he lie though? 

Truth be told, it  _ was  _ a pretty disappointing fight. At least how it ended that is. But, he  _ did _ win, and so Sakura clapped anyway. 

The rest of the chuunin exams went on as planned. Classmates that Sakura recognized went and fought their battles as decided, and she watched intently. She watched a girl in her class —super quiet,  _ very _ introverted— go against Neji Hyuga. Apparently they’re cousins, even though she often refers to him as her brother. As the fight happened, Sakura couldn’t help wincing and clenching her teeth —getting heated and getting cold off and on like a flickering flame. This guy,  _ this Neji guy _ , was actually  **a huge piece of shit** — like,  **literal doo-doo water** . Sure, Sakura was vaguely aware of his “attitude”, so to speak, but  _ wow _ ; she was  _ not _ expecting what she was witnessing. Hinata Hyuga was her name, and it wasn’t too hard to see the disgusting dynamic these two had. Any time she went down,  _ every _ time she went down, Neji’s wrath would rain down on her like hell’s fury. It was sad. It was disgusting. It was just…

“...  **NOT FAIR!** ” 

People turn to look at Naruto incredulously. Sakura made a curious expression at him. His teeth were clenched, gritting against each other, and he was grabbing the railing tightly. “It’s not fair! It’s not right!” He yelled. “She’s trying her best, anybody can see that! So, why are you talking down to her? Like she’s garbage, like she means nothing to you? You’re family!” Honestly, Sakura hadn’t heard all of what was being said, but based on Hinata’s expression, she figured whatever Neji was saying was most likely  _ exactly _ as Naruto described. Also, she was admittedly glad that someone felt the same way as she did. Since she doesn’t know Hinata personally, she figured it be pretty awkward to call out to her like this. Thankfully, there are people like Naruto who don’t let things like that keep them from calling a spade a spade. That said, this fight was just not fair.

Even though Hinata is clearly a great fighter, she’s also not skilled enough to defeat her cousin. He’s just… much stronger than her. 

The fight comes to an end eventually, and sadly, no, Hinata did not win. But she definitely gave it her all. Watching her in her defeat, Sakura thought to herself,  _ stay strong, Hinata. You will definitely get stronger, and show him. _

She watches Rock Lee fight against the sand ninja, Gaara. Miraculously, Lee gains the upper hand in the fight! Who would’ve guessed that he was so fast!! Though, despite it being such a close win, unfortunately, Lee lost, and was badly injured. To add insult to injury, or rather  _ injury _ to injury, Gaara tried to hurt Lee even further. He broke his bones some, an arm and a leg. He tried to do even worse damage, but thankfully the teachers and administrators didn’t allow it. Frankly, if you asked Sakura, Lee is the winner, regardless of whatever conclusion that stupid administrator makes. Sakura grimaced at Gaara, despite him not noticing.  **Tch, sore loser** . 

Soon, they’re all lined up. Half listening, Sakura wonders about Sashje. She hasn’t seen him at all. She’s certain that he probably would have wanted to see the fights between the other ninjas. But he wasn’t there still… 

Just like that, everyone was released until the next exams. Sakura is hanging around the village, sipping tea and eating dango. It’s not really her big favorite, but the sauce makes up for it’s otherwise super bland taste. The tea tops it off, too. She stops by the store, and buys some magazines. She heads home, ready to end the day. 

Sakura has gotten out the shower, and was wrapped her her bath towel. Sitting at her vanity, she stared into the mirror. Everything was still the same. She was still her. Except… her hair. Sakura frowned. As much as she really wished that she could majestically make her hair come back, she knew that was impossible. She did what she did, and now… now, she had to deal with it. She continued to frown at herself in the mirror. She glared at her hair. Ugh, it was so ugly. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, she watched her face go red. Sakura recalled the advice her mother gave. 

_ Be confident.  _

_ Emphasize your style. _

_ Be patient.  _

She skimmed through the magazines she brought. Most of the outfits and accessories were things she didn’t have, but she figured she could whip something up. Rummaging through her dresser and closet, Sakura pulled out an outfit that she hadn’t worn since… forever, practically. A cute short dress and an awesome loose blazer. The dress was strapless and a faint pink, like a cherry blossom. Near it’s bottom corner, there was a dark circle. That reminded Sakura why she ever likes the dress enough to get it in the first place: “It has the Haruno family’s crest on it,” Sakura mumbled. She grinned fondly at the clothing. The blazer was a nice touch to it: a fresh white, complementing the feminine charm overall. Although…

“This actually might be too short.” Sakura held the dress up the examine it. She held it up to her and looked into the mirror. Yikes, it was  _ scandalously _ short! No way she was gonna go outside looking like this! She needed an alternative, but she didn’t want to change the dress…

Fumbling around some more, Sakura had gone through one last drawer of her dresser before finding what she was looking for. In her hands, she held up a pair of deep red leggings. They stopped a little bit beyond her kneecaps, and flared out at the bottom in cute crinkles. They paired perfectly with her outfit! —there wasn’t too much of anything! Not too much white, not too much pink, not too much red —it was certainly a casual-classy outfit, and while I did make her stand out a little more than she was used to, Sakura figured she’d be fine. Sakura laid the outfit out on her window-bench. Tomorrow, she’s gonna wear that outfit and,  _ willing _ for once, train! She’s gonna give it all she’s got, and she’s gonna perfect her current skills and hone the strange new jutsu she created during her battle with Ino! 

  
Feeling pumped, Sakura quickly stretched to get rid of her slight adrenaline spike and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to mark a new beginning for her,  _ for real _ this time. 


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura stares at her mother in disbelief, sitting up in bed. 

“Are you serious?” She asked. Her mother made a deadpan face. In other words,  _ yes _ , she was. “When are we leaving?” Sakura then asked. “In half an hour, so hurry up and get yourself together so that you can eat breakfast and we can get there in time.” Mebuki gets up and leaves. Sakura groans, flopping back onto her bed. She couldn’t believe it… her great grandmother had passed. 

Well, Sakura didn’t know her personally or anything, but still: a family member dying is very disheartening. As a result, Sakura and her family are going to be traveling to where Mebuki’s side of the family lives. Wherever that might be. Wasting no more time, Sakura quickly went to brush her teeth and wash her hair. She put herself together, dressing in her new go-to outfit, and decided to do her makeup. It was maybe a little heavy, but she was still learning. Plus, it added a bit more of a feminine edge to her current look. Slipping into her short heels, she fumbled around for her small ninja pouch. Securing it around her waist, Sakura pulled her blazer over it. She glanced in the mirror, and for a moment cringed. Her eyeliner was way too heavy. It was super dramatic. Though, it would have to do for now. Sakura takes a small purse and heads downstairs to eat. 

Not too long after, Sakura and her family have walked all the way to the gates of Konoha, and have gotten the carriage they’d rented. Her mom and dad sat at the front of the carriage, with Kizashi taking the reigns and Mebuki leaning on him. The long ride began, and Sakura began to think to herself. 

What was her great grandparents’ home like? Sakura recalled what she already knew about it, although she understood it was very little. Last time she was there, she was perhaps two. She’s twelve now. That said, is it lively there? Or is it very quaint? Are the people there mostly old or young, or is it a good mixture? How similar does everyone look there? Is everyone there a part of the Haruno clan? Are any of them ninjas? And if not, what do they do? How’s the general wealth of the populace? Do people there tend to have pink hair and-or green eyes? Speaking of which, her mother did tell Sakura on the way to the carriage that she looks much more like Grandma Fuji once hitting adolescence. So, does that mean there is someone in the family who looks like Sakura? What about Grandpa Fuji? Is it a very rural-like place? So many questions…

Deciding to push these thoughts to the side, Sakura found herself growing tired. Quickly, she fell asleep. 

~.~.~

When Sakura awoke, her mother was seated across from her, happily peering out the window. Waking up rather suddenly, Sakura asked, “Mama, what are you looking at?” Mebuki gestured to the window. “We’re here! See for yourself!” Doing as told, Sakura peered out the window. She gasped at what she saw. 

It was far from being a super-developed village, but it was definitely beautiful and quaint. Everything was so traditional and yet modern at the same time, with everyone’s houses being far apart enough to allow everyone to have their own giant plot of land. There was quite a few bodies of water, and it was so clean that the sky clearly mirrored itself in it. Sakura blossoms scattered the fields, houses, dirt paths, waters and everything else  _ everywhere — _ it was all pink! It was gorgeous! The many large fields were also covered in pink blossoms, and occasionally, bundles of cherry blossom trees. It was a sight to behold. “Wooow!” Sakura said. Looking to Mebuki, Sakura then asked, “Where  _ is _ this, Mama?” Mebuki smiles at her. “This is the Land of Valleys!” Bashfully, she added, “I can’t really tell you what village, though.” Who cares? Sakura could only bring herself to focus on the natural beauty before her! 

When the Haruno family finally entered the village, locals grew curious. Many simply stood by and stared, but a couple of pedestrians boldly stepped out near the rocky roads to get a better look. Sakura peeked through the curtain of the chariot once more, and found herself a little dumbfounded. These people looked kind of wacky –or, that’s not a nice thing to say! More like they were just… very  _ different _ to look at. 

They were  **vibrant** . The colors they wore often didn’t coordinate, and the ones who did have coordinating outfits all wore clothing so similar that it seemed as though they were in uniforms. Some had extremely tanned skin, some were unnaturally pale; others had powdery white hair despite being as young as a toddler, and others had hair colors of bright greens or pinks: some even had ombré colored hair. They wore tunics, sometimes dresses, or skirts, or shirts, and some wore pants, or tights, or shorts, or bodysuits. People to this side wore wide hats and large belts and seemingly heavy boots, while others to the other side wore sashes and crowns of the sorts and and heels or sandals. Everybody was so… unique. 

“I don’t even know who to look at.” Sakura mumbled, to which Mebuki chuckled. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here, I’d forgotten how original people of the village was.” She admitted. Sakura allowed the curtain to fall back into place, hiding them from the sight of the locals. Not too long after, the chariot stopped. Shuffling was heard outside, and then Kizashi poked his head through the now opened door. “We have arrived, ladies! Let’s go say “hi” to Mom and Dad, now!” He said, grinning from cheek to cheek. Following promptly, Sakura wasn’t prepared for the intense stares she was going to receive as soon as she stepped out of the carriage. So, when she did feel the stares, she couldn’t help stiffening. Everywhere she glanced led her to lock eyes with at least four other people. Growing a little pink, some began to smile a little and turn to the others, pointing and whispering about her. Sakura turned on her heel as fast as she could and rushed to her parents’ side. Standing before the door, Kizashi knocked twice. A moment of waiting passed, and then the door slid open. A tall, slender woman stood hovering over them, and Sakura gaped a little at her overpowering aura. 

She had deeply tanned skin, golden-hued and clear, yet bright peridot colored eyes. Her gaze never wavered, staring directly into the eyes of Mebuki, Kizashi, and particularly Sakura, making the poor girl fidget a little. This woman’s makeup was bold and saturated, and done with the utmost precision. Her hair was as pale as a pink cherry blossom, growing to a somewhat platinum color at the very ends, and would’ve fallen to the floor had it not been for the sectioned off pulled up hair. She wore a long, draping tunic and a fitted skirt, sprouting like a flower at the bottom and covering her feet. Her expression was almost eerily blank, enough to give someone the heebie-jeebies. She was scary. She was beautiful.

“Dear, you’d never guess who arrived on our doorstep,” She shouted. She seemed to be calling to someone else, though, despite keeping her eyes focused directly on Sakura and her parents. There was a quiet mumbling in the background. “No, dear, it’s not the kraken. Well, yes, Mebuki’s here but would you believe it, dear? --Our sweet grandbaby has finally come to visit. Why, I’d say it’s been a decade. Hasn’t it, cherry?” The woman --Grandma Fuji -- asked Sakura this directly. Hesitantly, Sakura answered, “Ah, yes, it has.” Briefly, Grandma Fuji smiled. Gesturing, she ushered them inside. “Come on in, children. These folk will gawk all day long if you don’t find yourself out of sight.” 

Now sitting at a table, Grandma Fuji beamed at them some more. “I’m so delighted that you all are here.” Her face immediately faltered, and she then grumbled, “Although, I’m sure you understand why you’re here, of course. My mother…” Grandma Fuji took a small, careful breath. “Is no more. She will rest with the clouds now.” Grandma Fuji takes another moment, and Sakura and her parents stay quiet, partaking in the silence with the elder. “Oh, dear, I suppose I should go make some tea. What would you all like to eat?” As she began to stand, Grandpa Fuji had just walked in. Having heard this, he quickly sat his wife back down, saying, “No, love, sit here and I’ll prepare the drinks and food for today.” Grandma Fuji smiled thankfully, and allowed the handsome old man to gracefully disappear into the kitchen. Sakura couldn’t help noting her grandfather’s charming appearance; in fact, he and Grandma Fuji seemed to have aged like fine wine. She hopes it’ll be the same for her. “Kizashi, love? Why don’t you go move the carriage around the back? I’m not sure if Yuuma did it.” Kizashi got up to do this, and Mebuki went to help Grandpa Fuji. It was just Sakura and Grandma Fuji now. 

Grandma Fuji smiled softly. Sakura blushes a little, and looks elsewhere but not for long; “Sakura, love,” Her grandmother says. “What have you been up to as of late? How’s your studies, your social life? Tell me all, dear.” Sakura gives a nervous grin. “It’s all been well, Grandma.” Grandma Fuji nods. “Yes, yes. Becoming a dual talented shinobi will be a long and difficult journey.” Sakura blinks. “Um… what do you mean?” Before Grandma Fuji can answer, Grandpa Yuuma comes in with tea. He sets cups down in front of Sakura and his wife, and promptly pours the drink. “Mebuki and I are still preparing the foods. Won’t be much longer, love.” With a parting kiss to Grandma Fuji, Grandpa Yuuma heads back into the kitchen. 

“What of your love life? Any lucky young men by your side?” Grandma Fuji asks. Sakura chuckles. “Well,” she begins to blush. “I suppose there is  _ one. _ ” Grandma Fuji’s eyes light up, and she laughs. “Oh, my! What’s his name? What does he do for a living?” 

“Well, he’s the same age as me, so he doesn’t really have a career right now. And, his name is Sasuke.” 

“Are you two together?” Grandma Fuji asks. “Oh, no.” Sakura says. “I’m not sure if he likes me like that, anyway…” Grandma Fuji looks stunned. She shakes her head in disbelief. “Excuse me? You’re interested in him aren’t you?” Sakura nods. “And he… is  _ not  _ interested in you as well?” Sakura fidgets. “I don’t know.” Grandma Fuji becomes perplexed. “How so?” Sakura thinks of what to say.

“Well, whenever I try to approach he kind of just…” Sakura sighs. “Blows me off. Harshly.” She finishes. Grandma Fuji stares at her blankly. A sweet aroma fills the air as pastries are brought out. Another parting kiss is shared between the elderly couple, and then Grandpa Yuuma disappears once more. Grandma Fuji shakes her head in disbelief. “So, you’re not still interested are you?” Sakura blushes and says nothing, opting for twirling her hair instead. Grandma Fuji groans, and rubs her head. “This won’t do. Is that the strange dating culture of the Hidden Leaf village? Why, growing up  _ here  _ in Red Town, such a thing as  _ crushes  _ was hardly feasible!” She began to rant a little. “You used to have to fight your crush by the blade! If they couldn’t withstand a blow  _ and  _ didn’t have a career on top of that, that toad would  _ not  _ be your so-called “ _ crush _ ” any longer!” Sakura sighs in defeat. 

“Yes ma’am.” She says. Grandma Fuji pats her shoulder. “Never mind that for now. Let me teach you something useful.” However, Grandpa Yuuma comes in with more hot pastries. “Let’s snack, love!” Suddenly, Sakura’s grandparents are chowing down the snacks and tea. From then on, Sakura becomes invisible to her grandparents. No matter how she tries to get their attention (especially Grandma Fuji’s), the elders simply seem to not hear her. And soon, the time for bed arrives. 

On her way to bed, Sakura sees Grandma Fuji passing her. She decides to call out to her one more time. 

“Grandma Fuji!” She calls. Her grandmother stares at her blankly. She was such a cool looking old woman. “Yes, dear?” She replies. Sakura shuffled in place for a moment. “About earlier,” She began. “You said that you would teach me something useful? What was it?” Grandma Fuji keeps her leveled expression strong, but something in her eyes changes. “Well, there are many parts to this useful thing that I will teach you, Sakura, you won’t learn it in a single night.” She finishes with, “Let alone  _ master  _ this very useful thing.” Sakura purses her lips. “Still, I would like to know.” She says carefully. Grandma Fuji’s emerald eyes tear into Sakura’s soul for a moment, and Sakura shrinks into herself. Suddenly, the kunoichi felt small. “That, that there!” Sakura stares strangely at her grandmother’s accusatory finger pointed in her direction. “Fix that. Don’t  _ ever  _ do that again, from here on out, you hear?” She snaps. Sakura flinches at her grandmother’s curtness, but nods nonetheless. “Never, ever diminish your presence,  _ ever.  _ Tell me, blossom, why are you shrinking, why are you  _ hiding _ ?” Grandma Fuji asks. Sakura stutters as she tries to answer. “Well, you just suddenly shouted and pointed at me, so… I didn’t know how else to react --”

“ _ Excuses! _ ” Grandma Fuji said. Sakura frowned, and her grandmother shook her head and  _ tsked.  _ “Love, let me tell you why you are hiding.” Grandma Fuji approaches Sakura and begins guiding her towards her temporary room. “You hide because you are embarrassed.” What? They turn down a corridor. “You hide because you are ashamed.” What? No, she wasn’t! “You hide because to you, there is something you must hold within.” Huh? They arrive at an opened door. It’s a bedroom --Sakura’s room, and it has all her stuff there. The sheets of the bed are slightly pulled back, inviting her into its warm captive. Grandma Fuji pushes her in and gives her a final stern look. However, her eyes are somehow soft as she says so: “You hide because you are afraid.” She tilts her head. “But of what?” Before Sakura could respond, Grandma Fuji kisses her forehead and bids her goodnight. She shuts the door and quickly saunters off to be with her husband. Sakura is left confused, and feeling a little…  _ undressed,  _ so to speak. 

“ _ Ugh _ , Grandma Fuji  _ would  _ put me on the spot like that!” Sakura began huffing and puffing, mumbling in a long winded rant as she went to remove her makeup and prepare for bed. “I’m not  _ hiding  _ myself --I’m not  _ scared!  _ Why would I be? None of that even makes sense!” She removes her makeup and brushes her hair. She stares at it. She sighs. Sakura crawls into bed, still thinking of what her grandmother told her. She huffed. Before falling asleep, she grumbles one last:

  
“ _ I am  _ **_not_ ** _ afraid. _ ”


	18. Chapter 18

It’s the next day. 

They attended the funeral, and Sakura watched her great grandmother be lowered into a ditch of the sorts. Then came the last minute mournings, and the patting on the backs and the solemn frowns. Sakura, too, frowned and shed some tears. At some point, she glanced over to her Grandmother Fuji, who was completely emotionless. She seemed not the slightest bit fazed by her mother’s death and burial. Sakura felt her face uncontrollably twist into a scowl. Pardon her language, but what in the actual fuck? That’s literally her fucking mother in a box in the ground --and yet Grandma Fuji is completely untouched by this? Irritated, Sakura glanced her over. It was then that her expression immediately melted away. Ah, so that’s it. Grandma Fuji is one of those undercover weepers, perhaps; she wasn’t shedding any tears or showing remorse on her face, but it was very evident how she was feeling based on her body language. More importantly, the way she was gripping Grandpa Yuuma’s sleeve with a startlingly fierce hold is what made her true emotions clear. Indeed, as collected of a woman as Grandma Fuji seemed to be, the loss of her mother was still painful to experience. Even in spite of knowing that it would happen soon…

The funeral passes, and the family have arrived back at the Fuji household. Nothing particularly noteworthy happens for a while. All that carries on throughout the day is Grandma Fuji locking herself away in her and Grandpa Yuuma’s bedroom, coming out for no reason whatsoever. Sakura, unlike the other adults present, decided it was best to actually allow for Grandma Fuji to keep to herself. Everyone mourned and coped differently, and as far as Sakura was concerned, this was none other than Grandma Fuji trying to coax her mind --and maybe more so her heart --into understanding and accepting that her beloved mother was gone: dead and buried. Sakura was playing dress up in her room, laying out different articles of clothing to see what particular set of clothes portrayed the look she was going for.

Despite the advice Mebuki gave her, Sakura felt as though the cutesy thing could work for her. Just, she definitely wouldn’t be able to go all the way through with it as some other girl would probably be able to. That said, elegant and regal were truthfully styles that she had never considered, but having worn an outfit so recently that fit that kind of aesthetic better, Sakura can’t help but agree with her mother there. The more classy look truly did suit Sakura relatively well. So, now, her goal was to make some sort of mimicry of those styles combined. Something cute with a regality to it. Or, maybe something regal with a cute flair to it. Something like that would be fine all the same.

Sakura continued scanning through the outfits she’d thrown together. She already ruled out everything with pants. She glanced over her blazers and jackets. Although the white blazer she was wearing not too long ago was pretty darn cute, she couldn’t help finding her eyes drawn to a white mini jacket. Something about it was calling out to her. Aside from its color, or lack thereof, it had shapely sleeves: small shoulder pads and with ruffled “princess” sleeves. While some would normally turn up their nose at the thought of shoulderpads, these ones were especially nice and reasonably incorporated into the cloth. Aside from the small jacket was a really cute shirt. Accompanying it was a matching skirt that flowed perfectly as Sakura can recall, and similar to the mini jacket there was a dark circle on it. She grinned a little. The Haruno Clan symbol. Anywho, she wondered if the skirt was just a little too short, even for her. She looked over at her slightly elongated black spandex shorts. She’ll be ok if she wears that beneath the skirt. In fact…

Sakura quickly put the outfit on over her and squeaked. Wow, the outfit looked perfect! It was so cute! She swayed in the mirror back and forth. It’s so regal! Sakura continued basking in her wonderful appearance. Just then there was a knock at the door. Upon given command, it slid open to reveal Mebuki. 

“Hi, mom,” Sakura said, to which Mebuki smiled some. “Hello, dear,” she said. Her smile almost immediately fell into a frown, though, and she then said, “Sakura, love, mom would like to see you.” Quickly, she added, “My mom, that is.” Sakura nodded. A quick trip to the backyard porch revealed to Sakura her grandmother. Mebuki left to give the two privacy.

Together, Sakura and Grandma Fuji stood. It was a little cool, the nearby ponds adding to the otherwise neutral weather. The sky was dark and clouded, hiding them and the rest of the surrounding land in gray. Said cloudy sky went as far as Sakura could see, touching the divide between it and the horizon that then became earth. There was a faint howling riding the breeze, and the occasional twittering of the birds and croaking of the toads. Murmurs from far away sounded: the voices belonging to the other residents of this town. Sakura shivered as fluttering cherry blossoms tickled her skin, brushing by and bumping into her every other second. There was an earthy smell lingering around. Somewhere, someone was playing a soft melody. How serene. 

“Red Town is quite beautiful.” Grandma Fuji phrases this as a statement to which no response would be necessary, as if she already knew anyone else would wholeheartedly agree. Despite that, Sakura nodded and said, “It is.” They remain silent for a little while longer, simply enjoying each other’s presence and basking in the beauty of the nature around them. Another wind carried through, pulling a string of pink blossoms along with it. The blossoms were then deposited to the ponds and the grass. 

“I’m so sorry, Grandma,” Sakura says as she wraps her arms around said woman. She looked up at Grandma Fuji with sad eyes. “For your loss…” The gaze was returned, and Grandma Fuji smiled. She put a comforting hand onto Sakura’s shoulder. “Thank you, my cherry.” She took a moment to collect herself, glancing away from Sakura. When she was able to, she began to speak again. 

“The Haruno Clan today…” she started, “disappoints me.” Sakura frowned. 

“What do you mean, Grandma?” Sakura asks. Fuji takes a breath. 

“Eons ago, our earliest clan members came to be,” Fuji said. “Originally, we had no name, nor title, nor reputation. We only had a symbol, a crest:” 

“The circle?” Sakura asked. Her grandmother glanced at her for a moment. 

“The halo.” Fuji continued with her speech. “Sometimes called the “hoop”. As I was saying…”

“The only thing belonging to our clan was the halo. Amongst us were shamans, who would be the only ones of the clan to use chakra, and therefore the most powerful. They would tap into the chakra pools, and use it to reach out to whatever helpful spirits were around. This was the case for a long time amongst us, until we were ruthlessly attacked by the invading nation.”

“We had been caught in the crossfire of a war --a war between our neighbors, the Hoshigaki Clan hailing from the Land of Water, and foreigners nearby, the militant villagers of what was then the Land of Whirlpools. None of us were trained warriors, and no matter the efforts to defend ourselves, ultimately, we found ourselves dwindling in numbers fast; men were being killed, women were being kidnapped, and children were left abandoned and nationless.” Grandma Fuji closes her eyes for a moment. As she opens them, her emerald eyes glimmer. 

“Since that incident, many felt it unimportant to uphold the culture of our farthest ancestors. Plenty left the ruins of the land, opting to join other clans for a variety of purposes. The culture almost died, had it not been for the few who decided to stay behind. Doing all they could to recreate the clan, these pillars of the clan struggled.”

“You see, even though they had managed to recultivate many ways of our people prior, no one could understand the work of the shamans --they couldn’t use chakra. That is, until one.”

“This particular one had traveled deep into the belly of the land. There, they found a sunken cave. This is what we call “the Pit”. Within the Pit was an entity of sorts, a spirit of which when called, could grant higher ability. Through this, the Original was able to harness a spirit wielding ability so powerful that even after teaching the Remainders to become shamans, they were still much stronger than them all. It was the Original who had kept the clan safe. Outsiders would come to our humble home for advanced medical procedures, fortunes, and sakura weavings. These outsides were mostly made of a large band of passing shinobi of the Land of Earth. Melding into our own, the Haruno Clan was prosperous at this time. We had multiple shamans, powerful disciples of the Pit, and a growing number of our own shinobi.”

“Then, there were more outsiders.”

“They came from the sky, proposing to us a greater, bigger world waiting for us beyond our island. Most went, and once again, the Clan had been almost abandoned. The Haruno Clan has acted as a unified clan off and on ever since, some feeling the need to pass on our powers, and others, not so much.”

“As a result, we are in a strange predicament. Some know a lot about the Haruno Clan, and then there are an equal amount of others who know not a single thing.”

Sakura, who had been listening closely, nodded in a rather stiff manner. “I see,” She said. “Thank you for telling me, Grandma Fuji.” Grandma Fuji smiled a little at her. “Of course, love,” She said, “Though, that history lesson isn’t what I really wanted to tell you.” Sakura became curious. “What was it, then?” She asks. “I want to tell you about the Pit,” Fuji says. “I want to prepare you…”

“... to go to the Pit.” Sakura’s eyes widen a little, Grandma Fuji somewhat smirks. “Really, why?” Sakura stutters. “Well, why not?” Grandma Fuji retorts. Sakura purses her lips. That’s true and all, but it almost feels more like deflection rather than an actual answer. Thankfully, Grandma Fuji chooses to elaborate some. “If there’s one thing your Grandmother asks of you Sakura, dear, is to turn our clan into a fully-fledged nation as you compete to become the next Mountain of our family, the uprising Fuji. Understand?” Sakura opens her mouth to answer. However, Grandma Fuji ignores this as she leans down to whisper into Sakura’s ear. 

“To reach the pit, you must follow the white blossoms. They will eventually lead you to the flower-weeds, and from there…” Grandma Fuji continues whispering, and Sakura nods in apprehension. She’s not sure how this is going to go, but…

Sakura’s going to confront the Spirit of the Pit.


End file.
